United Utilities shares stage with David Attenborough

Curlew

The North West’s water company took centre stage yesterday (Wednesday 3 September) at a major conference on halting wildlife declines.

United Utilities’ Head of Sustainability, Chris Matthews, spoke at the Conference for Nature alongside Sir David Attenborough and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg today. The conference is being backed by leading conservation groups including the RSPB, National Trust, the Wildlife Trusts and Butterfly Conservation – and brings together politicians, industry leaders and wildlife groups to tackle the problems nature faces.

Sir David Attenborough said: “From the food we eat to the popular bedtime stories we read to our children, nature touches everyone’s lives more deeply than we can possibly imagine. The escalating erosion of wildlife from our planet is a direct threat to many facets of our own quality of life.

"Because of the complex relationship society has with nature, it is obvious that our response to saving it must extend from every possible quarter too. From you and I in our own domains, from business magnates to politicians, and from farmers to faith leaders, everyone has an opportunity to save nature. With an increasing global footprint, mankind is intensifying the crisis for wildlife, but as individuals we can all be a part of the solution for saving it too.”

United Utilities is one of the key players in the water industry helping to bring nature back to the countryside. The company owns land in some of the most environmentally sensitive locations in the country, and in fact there are 54 different sites of special scientific interest on the company’s land. In the Peak District United Utilities has been working with the RSPB at Dove Stone, helping create habitat for curlews, mountain hares and a range of other upland wildlife. Across the North West region the company has invested £22m over the last ten years on activities including restoring some 571 hectares of bare peat and planting more than 350,000 trees.

Chris Matthews of United Utilities said: “Industry can make a real difference in the fight against wildlife decline. A lot can be achieved with partnerships and some creative thinking.

“It’s all about finding solutions where everyone wins – who would have thought that by restoring moorland peat you could help wildlife as well as water quality? That is what we have been working on with the RSPB and our Sustainable Catchment Management Programme over the last ten years and we are seeing startling results – less erosion, better habitats for wildlife and cleaner water in our reservoirs.”

The RSPB’s Darren Moorcroft, conference organiser, said: “The groundbreaking State of Nature report launched last year by Sir David Attenborough and the country’s leading wildlife groups revealed that 60 per cent of the UK’s native species are in decline. Despite all the work that is being done, wildlife is still in trouble and we need to think bigger if we are going to tackle the crisis nature is facing.

“This conference marks the start of a new way of tackling this crisis, by bringing industry, politician and conservationists together to find game changing solutions. The strength of support this conference has received industry, politicians and conservationists shows the real level of ambition there is.”