Biodiversity benchmark

“Biodiversity is the wealth of wildlife in the world around us, from wildflowers and insects to mammals and birds” (ref: The Wildlife Trusts).
Greater biodiversity leads to improvement in the soil, water and the entire web of life in an area and can add greatly to its general aesthetic value.

The management of biodiversity at British Airways Waterside falls under British Airways Standing Instruction 5, “Environmental Policy”, and the specific application to biodiversity is a reaffirmation of our commitment to:

In recognition of our commitment to biodiversity, we were one of the original seven UK companies (BAA Heathrow, BA Waterside, Center Parcs, Elmwood College, Land Securities Group, Severn Trent Water and Shropshire Wildlife Trusts) to receive the Wildlife Trusts Business and biodiversity benchmark. This was awarded for the high level of active biodiversity management of Harmondsworth Moor, the parkland surrounding our Waterside Headquarters.

Harmondsworth Moor, a former area of several old landfill sites, has been extensively remediated and landscaped and, within the overall area of 100 hectares, enjoys several miles of attractive riverbank, lakes, ponds and acres of grassland and young woodland in which lives a wealth of wildlife.

Several rare and endangered species have been identified, from insects such as stag beetles to river and marshland plants, bats, skylarks and harvest mice. These, and many more plants and animals, are being encouraged to enhance the parkland’s various habitats through careful management of the area by the Parkland Ranger team provided by contract partner, Glendale Managed Services.

The British Airways Community Learning Centre, based on the edge of the parkland, provides facilities to enable the promotion of conservation objectives, provide education on topics such as biodiversity, landfill management and landscape heritage, while encouraging community involvement. Specific initiatives include a conservation-grazing programme, involving cattle from a local farmer and rare sheep breeds from the London Natural History Museum and local authority farms.

Biodiversity has been included in the Government’s ‘England's biodiversity strategy'- Business Work stream’. This was the driver behind the Wildlife Trusts Benchmark, which aims to demonstrate a company’s commitment to biodiversity issues. It does this by independently verifying the quality and performance of a corporate biodiversity management process and enables companies to assess their impact on the natural environment and improve their contribution.

We remain committed to protecting and enhancing Harmondsworth Moor, together with nearby parkland managers. “ideally you should encourage biodiversity in partnership". At Harmondsworth Moor we work with neighbouring sites to develop a consistent and complementary approach to promote biodiversity in the local area as a whole.” (Head Ranger).