Holly Smith - 16-Mar-2007
- The Environment Agency will get to the
root of climate change on 23 March 2007
when they join forces with The National
Forest to plant 650 trees.
The trees will offset the miles travelled
on business by our staff in the Lower Trent
area. A team of approximately 20 volunteers
will plant the native broad-leaved trees
at 1pm on 23rd March at a National Forest
site at Ibstock.
Mark Haslam, an Environment Manager for
Leicestershire and the Soar Valley said;
"I am thrilled that we are planting
these trees at Ibstock to reduce our carbon
footprint. We all cause carbon dioxide emissions
by burning fossil fuels: oil, coal and natural
gas for heating and through the use of oil
based fuel for travel."
"At the Environment Agency all our
offices are supplied with green electricity
which is sourced from renewable energy such
as Wind Power, or Hydroelectric Power. Therefore
our major impact is through business travel,
which is why we are taking a major step
to reduce and offset this."
"All business mileage undertaken in
the Environment Agency is monitored which
enabled the total carbon footprint of our
patch to be calculated. We want to set a
challenge to others and basically say if
we can do it so can you."
Notes to editors
The National Forest
To find out more about The National Forest
log on to http://www.nationalforest.org/
How we tackled out carbon footprint
Last year we introduced some other simple
initiatives in the Lower Trent Area to help
to reduce our carbon footprint. These changes
have not only reduced our business impact
on our environment but realised significant
cost savings and efficiencies.
We have:
Introduced double sided printing and copying
of all documents, saving 30% on stationary
costs.
Developed a business travel plan, reducing
our mileage by 20%.
Installed waterless urinals in all male
toilets and placed Hippo-bags in all cisterns,
reducing our water consumption by 20%.
Placed recycling facilities on all floors
throughout our buildings, cutting our waste
production by 25%.
Installed motion detectors on all corridor
lighting, reducing our electricity costs
by 10%.
Utilised BT Meet Me teleconferencing, reducing
business travel time by 15%.
+ More
Environment Agency improvements to south
London Oasis
Lucy Harding - 12-Mar-2007 - The Environment
Agency will start improvements on another
section of the River Darent today (Monday,
12 March). The latest work on the river
will affect a 300 metre stretch at Franks
Lane, near Horton Kirby.
The work will restore a section of the
River Darent to a more natural state. The
Environment Agency will move the gravel
in the river around to reinstate features
like pools, riffles and gravel bars all
of which will provide a better habitat for
wildlife such as invertebrates, fish and
water voles.
Work by the Environment Agency and partners,
including water companies and the local
community, has brought the river back from
the brink of disaster. The Darent is a chalk
stream and is fed by groundwater water
that is stored under ground. Over time,
more and more of this water has been taken
out or abstracted from groundwater for
public supply, which almost devastated the
river. The Darent Action Plan aims to reduce
abstraction close to the river to improve
river flows.
The Franks Lane rehabilitation project
is the third in a series of restoration
stretches on the Darent. Previous restoration
work has been carried out at Hawley Manor
near Dartford and Lullingstone Castle near
Eynesford.
Tom Cook, who is managing the project for
the Environment Agency said:
The River Darent is an important chalk
stream habitat. Due to our restoration works
in recent years, we have seen improvements
for river invertebrates, which are an important
food source for fish. The works will create
better habitat for water voles and birds
too. These are all indications that the
river is improving. There is still a lot
to do, but the work at Franks Lane will
make an important contribution to the river,
creating a better place for wildlife and
the local community.
