Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Re-introducing Beavers To The UK!
We are delighted to announce that we will be working with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust on a ground-breaking project to re-introduce 2 families of beavers into Derbyshire for the first time in 800 years. In October 2021, the first animals will be released into Willington Wetlands Nature Reserve, a 46ha site and former gravel quarry between Derby and Burton-on-Trent, and one of the best bird-watching sites in the East Midlands.
Initially a five-year project, it is hoped that as a result of extensive research, carried out with the support of Atlantic Pumps, the beavers will either continue to be homed there after the five-year trial or released into the surrounding area.
Beavers And The Ecosystem
Beavers play a vital role in the management of wetlands and water courses - in fact, they are like ecosystem engineers or Envirohubs on legs! Atlantic Pumps’ Envirohub system monitors, treats, and reports on water quality from the site of quarries and mines. This protects the local ecosystem and allows projects like the beaver release to happen right on the doorstep of quarries. Beavers and the dams and lodges they build have been proven to reduce flooding, protect water courses from erosion, filter out pollutants from rivers and increase diversity.
Eco-Tourism
As well as having a huge positive impact on the natural environment, the project should encourage eco-tourism in the area and boost the nature-based economy. It will create opportunities for volunteers and educational establishments to carry out site surveys and future biological and hydrological monitoring. It will also create unique educational opportunities for local schools.
Our Role
A vital part of the beaver reintroduction project is to gather evidence of the huge positive environmental impact the beavers have on the local area in order for the project to continue after the five-year trial period, and to support other releases and the ultimate aim of free-release of beavers across the UK. As a charity, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is hugely reliant on volunteers and partners to help carry out this research. Atlantic Pumps will be providing tools and PPE for the volunteers working on the project, as well as funding a new boat to help volunteers access the wetland.
Our Commitment To Sustainability
Here at Atlantic Pumps, we are committed to sustainability and our commitment has four main areas of focus: energy, innovation, people and recycling. We are confident that we can reduce pump energy consumption by 20% on the average site. We believe innovation is critical to sustainability and are committed to introducing remote monitoring devices on all our sites to improve pump efficiencies and make a huge impact on future sustainability. We believe people are the key to achieving our sustainability vision and by investing in the learning and development of our team we can improve our customers’ skills, and in doing so, improve lives. We are committed to helping our customers recycle twice as much by 2025 than they did in 2015. We believe in supporting the community, environment and local economy by getting involved in local initiatives and making small donations to local organisations and projects such as museums, health causes and charities.
Investing In The Future
As well as sharing our strong commitment to sustainability, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has strong links with companies we supply as they purchase end-of-life quarries in order to turn them into nature reserves or wildlife areas. We look forward to working with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust on this innovative project.
Image source: Unsplash
