RPL Biodiversity report

RICOH UK PRODUCTS LTD

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Ricoh UK Products Ltd Biodiversity Report


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Compiled by: Ashlee Savage, Andy Whyle, Carl Griffin

Reviewed: 16/01/2014

Amended:

Amended by:

With thanks to Ricoh Eco-Ninjas:

Carl griffin, Tania Willoughby, Stu Mapp, Alan Gwilt, Andy Whyle, Ian Cheshire, Jon Oakley, Mark Anderson, Scott Pardoe, Paul Wiggets,

Tim Jones and Rob Beech.


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Contents

Foreword 4

Introduction 5

Background 10

Proposed Actions and Recommendations for site 11

Completed Actions against plan and other activities 13

Species Identified 17

Conclusion 20

Appendix 1- Site maps 21

Appendix 2- Project breakdown of hours 24

Appendix 3- Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity 27

Appendix 4- Projects 2009 33






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Foreword The word 'biodiversity' has been with us since 1985. Biodiversity

simply means variety of life on Earth. However, its importance to global ecology has made it one of the most profound concepts in

modern science. It includes all species of animals and plants, and the natural systems that support them. Biodiversity matters because it supports the vital benefits we get from the natural

environment. It contributes to our economy, our health and it enriches our planet.

The ecosystems that contain our biodiversity are the basis for all life. Their services are indispensable for the continuity of

mankind. However, biological diversity in our world is disappearing at an alarming rate. If we continue to destroy the environment, we will not only eliminate the basis of our future

existence, but also of our future economy. To reverse this trend it is essential that stakeholders pool resources in order to

combat the global loss of biodiversity. There is an urgent need for international and national cooperation, making the transposition from the “Think Global - Act Local” to a “Local-Physical-Targeted” approach. The partnership of business organisations

working with non-government organisations (NGO’s) can support the development of science, influence political strategy and develop economic systems.

Humans, economy, and ecology are not opponents, but are interdependent, as recognised in Ricoh’s People-Planet-Profit sustainability philosophy. With the increasing loss of biodiversity, there is an increase in risk for both society

and business. The scope of business risk is broad, ranging from higher procurement costs, to restrictions through government regulation, to customer defection.

However, the risk of reducing concerns about biodiversity would mean ignoring the considerable business opportunities that it offers. Until recently these possibilities have been largely ignored, yet they have the capacity to give companies a

competitive advantage. The goal of a business case for biodiversity is both to conserve biodiversity and to

increase the economic success of the company. This goal can be achieved through targeted, biodiversity conservation measures that go beyond the legal requirements. This is often aided by intelligently complying with existing and future government

regulations (i.e. Water Framework Directive) and improving efficiencies such as site waste water costs.

This approach has resulted in Ricoh working with The Wildlife Trusts to jointly develop corporate biodiversity as a strategic management tool. In joint projects, these organisations have made use of their networks to contribute new information,

developing strategies and ideas for new products and services. In addition, the reputation of both organisations have been enhanced and recognised

by other businesses, other NGO’s, and importantly, their customers. These activities support the existence of our business organisation, improve the

natural capital of our site and local community, act as an exemplar for others to follow, sharing what we have learned, developing business excellence and redressing the balance of biodiversital decline.

The path to Sustainability is a journey that is meaningless when taken alone. Deploying and sharing the corporate biodiversity partnership model we have

developed here is key to a future in which we appreciate both the ecological and economical value of our biodiversity, before these natural assets are lost to us.

Andy Whyle Ricoh Environment Officer, Chair of BESST, Shropshire Wildlife Trust Trustee


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Introduction

The Ricoh Group connects environmental conservation activities and business

management. We view conservation of the global environment as the natural

responsibility of a global citizen. Society has developed thanks to the earth's

abundant natural resources. However, Ricoh recognises that the very diversity of life

that has supported our environment is in decline.

Ricoh Group Biodiversity Policy

To respond to this decline, in 2009 Ricoh introduced its Group

Biodiversity Policy to specify our objectives:

Basic Policy

Given that we gain a lot of benefit from living things and pursue business activities

that have an impact on biodiversity, we will reduce the impact of our activities on

biodiversity and engage proactively in its protection.

1. Management tasks: Treat biodiversity

protection as essential for ensuring the

sustainable growth of the company, and

implement sustainable environmental

management.

2. Understanding and reducing impact:

Assess, grasp, analyse, and set numerical

targets for the impact on biodiversity of all

our business activities, including raw

materials procurement, and work continuously to reduce this impact.

3. Implementation: Give priority to measures with a high degree of impact and

effectiveness from a biodiversity and business perspective.

4. Developing new technologies: Aim to realize a sustainable society, develop

technologies that make use of biological resources, learn from the mechanisms of

http://www.ricoh.co.uk/Images/Group%20Biodiversity%20policy_t_66-1021.pdf

http://www.ricoh.co.uk/Images/Group%20Biodiversity%20policy_t_66-1021.pdf


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ecosystems and the nature of living things, and employ the knowledge gained to

develop technologies and sustainable production processes.

5. Working with local communities: From the perspective

of sustainable development, work not only with government

organisations, but also with local residents, NGOs, and other

stakeholders to promote the protection of the precious global

ecosystems and of the biodiversity of countries and regions

where we conduct business.

6. Involving each person: By getting executives to

take the lead and implementing Group-wide educational

initiatives, enhance recognition of the importance of

biodiversity among all employees to enable them to act

independently.

7. Expanding the scope of our activities: By collaborating with

customers, suppliers, other companies, NGOs, international

organisations, and so on, share information, knowledge and

experience concerning biodiversity, and expand the scope of our

protection activities.

8. Communication: Contribute to raising awareness of biodiversity protection

among people at large by sharing the experience of our activities and achievements

proactively.


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The RICOH Way

Production System12 Key Fundamentals

1. Think Safety; Act Safely

2. Embrace 5S

3. Foster Employee Development

4. Be Environmentally Responsible

5. Model Corporate Social

Responsibility

6. Deliver Quality

7. Breathe Fact-Based Decision-

Making

8. Show Visual Management

9. Deploy Standardization

10.Live KAIZEN

11.Pursue Super Low Cost

12. Implement Synchronization

S

E

Q

C

D

Ricoh corporate strategy

If the corporations of the world stick to their business-as-usual approach and continue to increase their environmental impact, then sooner or later the Earth will become too seriously damaged to retain its self-sustaining capability and we will find

ourselves heading down an irreversible path of destruction. With this in mind, the Ricoh Group formulated the Year 2050 Long-Term Environmental Vision in 2005. In

doing so, we recognized that advanced nations need to reduce their environmental impact to one-eighth of fiscal 2000 levels by 2050 and concluded that it was necessary to set up specific action plans under this vision.

The Ricoh Group’s Sustainable Environmental Management strategy has four pillars: conserving energy and preventing global warming, conserving and recycling resources, preventing pollution and preserving biodiversity. Thee first three pillars

aims to reduce the environmental impacts of our activities (reducing damage to the planet) while the fourth supports the Earth’s self recovery (repairing the damage to

the planet).

Globally each of Ricoh’s offices, whose site is on their own ground, has actions

defined under the business strategy for 2011 - 2013 to ensure that local biodiversities are preserved and developed. As part of “The Ricoh Way “, RPL takes

the knowledge developed from working with local Non Government Organisations on these actions and uses it to support the local community and other business organisations.

The Ricoh Way-Production System The Ricoh Way is a strategy which provides an organised approached to ensure excellence in manufacturing.

The corporate biodiversity projects undertaken by Ricoh employees fit in with the Ricoh Way Key Environmental

Fundamentals (KF#) 3, 4 and 5. Our staff engagement is of a recognised high standard, which fulfils Employee Development (KF3#) and continuous improvement. By being Environmentally

Responsible (KF4#) and Modelling Corporate Social responsibility (KF5#) we are fulfilling the requirements of these

Ricoh standards.


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This ultimately benefits Ricoh by providing a model for other businesses to aspire to, and for customers to admire. It also positively impacts on site conservation and

aesthetics.

Ricoh Employee engagement

Ricoh began undertaking conservation projects with Shropshire Wildlife Trust volunteers in 2009. For the first project (Pied Flycatcher Nest box

scheme) employees carried out all building and installation of the nest boxes during Ricoh works time. A small level of training and skill (but a

lot of sweat!) was required to carry this project out.

The second project in 2010 (Small Mammal Surveys) required volunteers to

undertake weekend specialist training sessions, and performing surveys in more and more of their own time.

This required far more commitment and goes beyond the traditional viewpoint of Corporate Biodiversity.

To recognise the extra commitment given by these employees, they were given the name of Ricoh Eco Ninjas. Since then, the ranks of the Eco Ninjas have grown, they

have undertaken more specialist biodiversity training, and gone on to carry out conservation activities both on the

Ricoh site and in support of the local community.

Business Benefits

The goal of a business case for biodiversity is both to conserve biodiversity and to

increase the economic success of the company. This goal can be achieved through targeted, biodiversity conservation measures that go beyond the legal requirements.

This is often aided by intelligently complying with existing and future government regulations (i.e. Water Framework Directive) and improving efficiencies such as site waste water costs.

Working with NGO’s (i.e. The Wildlife

Trust) on targeted biodiversity often means employees need to learn a new

skill set. This can range from building nest boxes (supporting) to becoming part of a trained and licensed

biodiversity survey team (specialist). Theses skills can be utilised off site to

carry out conservation surveys and activities in the local community. This extends the resources available to

NGO’s, matching their expertise with available corporate manpower to

jointly work on targeted projects. Ricoh’s Eco Ninjas have also presented at community events, extolling the value of natural capital and assisting in the formulation of community conservation groups

(environmental leaders). Ricoh has also supported The Wildlife Trust in the


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development of corporate membership strategy, developing communication tools (Ref: Appendix 3: Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity) and acting as an exemplar to

other business organisations (advocate).

The knowledge transfer from NGO’s such as Shropshire Wildlife Trust can also be utilised at business sites, with the trained employees playing an active part in site

management. The Eco Ninjas have worked with the Ricoh Site Maintenance department and developed Biodiversity Buffer Zones on site, which have a much reduced cutting

program resulting in lower costs. They have also been learning tree management methods (felling, copicing and pollarding) to create open glades and hybernacular

environments to promote site biodiversity These management methods can be captured in the form of Process Guide

documents. These enable the developed knowledge base to be made available to a wider team and then deployed to other business organisations with similar

aspirations. This knowledge transfer,

developed through the expertise and different skill sets of both the Shropshire

Wildlife Trust and Ricoh, sets the basis for other

organisations (Including other Wildlife Trusts) to begin and grow their

biodiversity programs, ultimately improving wildlife

corridors and conservational aspects across a much wider scope.

This partnership approach, engaging with stakeholders to improve local community targeted biodiversity issues, provides evidence of Social Responsibility. This evidence can used to show existing and potential customers the ethical stance of

an organisation, and is becoming an increasing requirement of during the tendering for contract stage during the procurement process. Improving site management

aspects and supporting the local community shows that you run a responsible business, in which you accept stewardship of your assets and physically care for the surrounding area.

Ricoh are advocates of business excellence and have adopted the Business Excellence Model as a

framework to measure and benchmark the organisation.

Developing this symbiotic partnership and then sharing the learned processes show leadership

and societal attributes, which apply directly to the framework.


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SWT Initial Site Biodiversity Survey: 2009

Background On Monday 2nd November 2009 the BESST group visited RPL Telford site in order to identify potential on-site biodiversity enhancements and conservation project

opportunities for Ricoh employees.

The RICOH site boundary is marked by a mixture of natural screening, fencing, banks and ditches. Internally the site divides into a number of level platforms on which sit

existing production buildings or may in the future be built on to increase production capacity. Bearing in mind this potential change in the use of the internal space we focussed on the boundary features and a significant hedge and ditch feature which

ran from North to South across the western half of the site.

The following areas were identified as “areas of value in generating biodiversity enhancement and staff engagement”:

1. Black Poplars [Populus nigra]- bordering University

2. Old boundary hedge and ditch – bordering University 3. Young Woodland - back of RPL2

4. Hedge Enrichment – by security hut 5. Boundary hedge - adjacent to motorway.

Please see attached diagram (Appendix1)

It was noted that:

“The RICOH site offers a great number of opportunities to plant new woody shrubs, trees and wild flowers. Most of the wildlife friendly measures are easy to plan and

execute, and are small scale making them cheap to fund and avoid time consuming and complex projects. The key contribution that all the suggested avenues for biodiversity gain is that they

all improve wildlife connectivity. As was mentioned above Telford despite its great natural resources is in danger of slowly but surely isolating its wildlife hotspots by

severing the lifelines which bind them together. RICOH can make a positive contribution to preventing this fragmentation.”

Pete W. Lambert Shropshire Wildlife Trust 2009


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Proposed Actions and Recommendations for site

1. Black Poplars- bordering University

The proposed actions and key activities aimed to protect this rare and vulnerable tree included the following.

Confirm the identification of the tree and register it under the local authority’s Tree Protection order register.

Ensure the continued health of the Black Poplar trees by avoiding root compaction and inappropriate ground disturbance in their vicinity.

Commit to a once-a-year visual tree assessment in order to monitor the tree health and safety issues.

To register the tree on the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt website in

order for the Shropshire Wildlife trust to gather accurate local records.

2. Old boundary hedge and ditch – bordering University

The proposed actions and key activities aimed to protect this old boundary hedge include the following:

To connect the hedge habitat to other similar habitats by planting up the gaps in order to increase the variety of species the live here.

To plant a number of adjacent trees down its length in order to support

more biodiversity and give the hedge more structure. Further suggestions were made regarding the adjacent trees. Instead of

mowing around the trees, connecting strips of grassland will be incorporated into a much broader grass corridor.

Further trees are to be planted in order to produce a linear woodland along

this border.

3. Young Woodland – back of RPL2

The proposed actions and key activities aimed to protect these native trees and poplars that make up the young woodland include the following:

To undergo gentle incremental thinning of the poplar trees over the next few years in order to release the native slower growing trees that are beneath.

The wood arising from these operations will be stacked on the ground in order to build up the deadwood community of invertebrates and fungi on

site. Erection of nest boxes for birds and bats in this wooded area in order to

increase the population and variation of these species. Further trees to be planted in this wooded area to increase population and

woody shrubs added such as Guelder rose, Hazel and Wych Elm.

4. Hedge Enrichment – by security hut

The proposed actions and key activities aimed to protect and enrich this perimeter hedge include the following:


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It was noted that in three locations around the perimeter fence the hedge is either very gappy or non-existent. Hedge should be planted in these gaps

in order to create a shelter and nesting place for many species of wildlife. Ensure planting of a mixture of woody species is done in a double row, and

individual plants are protected from rabbit damage by a spiral guard.

Ensure the planted hedge is well maintained by water over the next few summers and weed control until the hedge is established.

5. Boundary hedge - adjacent to motorway.

The proposed actions and key activities aimed to protect and enrich this boundary hedge and to strengthen the ecological connectivity of the site include the following:

It was noted that this boundary is marked by a fence, a line of standard specimen trees and a beech head. Enhanced planting of small shrubs was suggested in order to help the vegetation to screen pollution from the

motorway, capture dust, reduce noise and improve the effectiveness of the strip as a wildlife corridor.

Planting woody shrubs such as hazel and the addition of spring bulbs will look much better and make it a much more bird-friendly habitat.

Berry bearing shrubs are to be added in order to increase the foraging value of the hedge and support a wider range of biodiversity.


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Completed Actions against plan and additional activities

Over the past 4 years many projects have been undertaken in order to support and increase the diversity of wildlife and to provide a sustainable ecosystem for these

species on the RPL Telford Site.

1. Black Poplars [Populus nigra] – bordering University

As requested, the Black Poplar trees were positively identified and registered on the Tree Protection Order Register and the woodland trust’s website by the ground maintenance team.

In regards to the Black poplar trees, measures have been put into place in order to reduce root compaction and ground disturbance. These include introducing a buffer

zone surrounding this area. The buffer zone is an area of land in which public access and maintenance is limited in order for the natural ecosystem to thrive.

2. Old boundary hedge and ditch – bordering University

The old boundary hedge has been traced as far back as 1889 in local ordinance maps; this had led to it being labelled as an

“ancient hedge”. This makes it highly important as a species rich ecosystem and is protected under the 1997 Hedgerow legislation.

The hedgerow is also included in the buffer zone. This buffer zone allows growth of many wild flowers and grasses as well

as a natural undisturbed habitat for

small mammals,

Birds and invertebrates. Along this

hedge way, a


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number of small mammal boxes were introduced in order to record and attract small mammals in this area.

The old boundary hedge is marked as 3 on the adjacent map.

3. Young Woodland – back of RPL2

Due to the fast growing trees that were planted around the native growing trees such

as oak by the council many years ago, there has been competition for light and food sources by the species in this area. This had led to many of the slower growing native trees to die off and begin rotting. Another issue is the proximity of these trees

to each other; as many trees were planted in close proximity, it was not sustainable for all of them to survive.

Work is ongoing by the grounds maintenance team in trimming the larger trees and removing the dead trees surrounding them. So far they have removed 50+ dead and self-setting trees but plan to work on this project for many years to come in order to

make the trees sustainable and reintroduce the native trees back into the woodland area.

In addition to this nest boxes for birds have been made to record and increase the number of settled birds in the area.

The following map shows the location of Small Mammal boxes and Robin nesting

boxes in the young woodland area

4. Hedge Enrichment – by security hut

Hedgerows are listed as a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). This

means that they have been identified as an important habitat and actions are being taken

to increase the quantity and quality of hedges in the UK, so that they continue to support a

wealth of wildlife. In order to support more wildlife and increase

site security long term, without the need for metal fencing, the hedge has been enriched

with many berry wielding species in order to


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support wildlife over the winter. A total of 275 bare root stock were planted in November 2011 including Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), Hazel (Corylus avellana), Wild Rose Red (Rosa rugosa 'Rubra'), Spindle (Euonymus europaeus). These species should mature in 5-10 years and should incorporate themselves into the ancient hedgerow lasting many

years.

5. Boundary hedge - adjacent to motorway.

It was suggested that the boundary hedge adjacent to the motorway is to be planted

with woody native shrubs. This area underwent planting with the following: Cotoneaster (conspicuus) Spotted Laurel, Rhododendron, Hydrangea, Sage, Juniper,

conifers, Cotoneaster (horizontalis), Lavender, Phormium (New Zealand species) Periwinkle (Vinca) Hebe (Genus). These plants aid pollution screening and provide shelter and food for small mammals and such during the winter months.

In addition to this planting, Bird and mammal boxes were placed along this linear feature in order to provide more sheltering and increase the number of species

present. 11 Blue Tit and 5 Robin nesting boxes were set up along this perimeter, along with one bug habitat.

6. Bird and Bat box erecting

A total of 27 blue/grey tit boxes, 13 robin boxes, 2 bug habitats and one bat box were erected on site. From these we found that 6 blue tit nests had eggs in them; an

obvious indication that they had been used by local wildlife and were actively supporting the increase in local birds. Many of the other nest boxes were found to

have food stores in; an indication that they were being used by birds for winter storage.

A Site map showing the location of bird nesting boxes.

T- Blue/Great Tit R- Robin


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The singular bat box was erected in the Black Poplar trees bordering the University

as a trial to see if there were any bats in the area as they are quite hard to find. Although no bats were seen due to it being to hard to get inside the bat nesting box;

several droppings were spotted on the exterior of the box which is a positive sign.

A total of 40 mammal boxes were also placed on site, some containing camera

traps. These were placed on the top hedgerow near the security hut and the

back area of woodland behind RPL2. During a survey of these nest boxes in November 2010 we found evidence of a

number of small mammals including the following: Bank Voles

Rats Shrews

Yellow Neck mice Pygmy shrews

This was considered an excellent find as pygmy shrews are listed as an endangered

species.

Effects/Results

As a result of these conservation projects we have managed to attract a much wider variety and population of species. We have tried to introduce many different habitats from bug hotels to thick hedge growth in order to support a whole ecosystem on our

own site. Since 2009, many surveys have been undertaken in order to measure the success of our conservation projects and to gain more knowledge on the local wildlife.


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Species Identified

Fauna

Birds

Buzzard Greater spotted woodpecker Goldfinch

Canada Geese Jay Greenfinch

Partridge Pheasant Pied Wagtail

Robin Long Tailed Tit Grey Wagtail

Fieldfare Blue Tit Wheatear

Thrush Coal Tit Sparrow

Blackbird Great Tit Starling

Pigeon Common Gull Heron

Swallow Kestrel Mistle Thrush

Mammals

Fox Weasel Rabbit

Rat Squirrel Hedgehog

Mole

Insects and other

Dragonfly Damselfly Sawfly

Wirlygig Beetle Diving Beetle Lily Beetle

Freshwater Shrimp Daphnia Cyclops

Caddisfly (larvae) 10 spot ladybird Common Ladybird

Ants Frog Toad

Newt Slow Worm

Moths

Common Swift Common Marbled Carpet Silver-ground Carpet

Green Carpet Flame Shoulder Seraphim

Brimstone Moth May Highflyer Peppered Moth

Clouded Silver White Ermine Pale Prominent

Heart & Dart Ingrailed Clay Common White Wave

Poplar grey Dusky Brocade Scalloped Hazel

Ghost Moth Figure of eighty Common pug

Iron Prominent Willowherb hawk Elephant Hawk

Lime Hawk Deaths head hawk

Without the knowledge gained from doing the projects, training and working with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust we would not

have been able to identify these species let alone recognize the signs that they were around site. A prime example of this is the spotting of Badgers on site. Without the knowledge and

expertise gained from the Wildlife Trust we would not have been able to set up camera traps or even recognize that the holes

found on site were from badgers digging for worms.


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Flora Since the Action Plan 2009 was issued a survey has been undertaken on site and all

species of tree have been noted. Many endangered species of tree have been located and registered on the Local Authorities Tree Protection Order and on the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Hunt Website. RPL currently has a tree preservation order for 84

semi and mature trees on site. This was introduced in 2005 by the Wrekin Council town and planning Act 1990 & Tree preservation order 2005. This means RPL has a

responsibility to maintain and protect these trees and if guidelines are not followed the local Authority can fine up to £20,000.

The below map shows the location of the various tree

species.

T1: Oak (mature) T2: Alder (mature T3 : Oak (Mature)

T4 : Blue Atlas Cedar (semi mature)

T5 : Blue Atlas Cedar (semi mature) T6 : Ginkgo (semi mature)

G1: Group of 10 Horse

chestnuts (Semi mature) (bleeding canker disease on G1 / G3

G2: x3 Turkey Oak (mature) G3: Group of 13 Horse

Chestnuts (Semi mature) G4: Group containing 4 sycamores (mature), 3 Beech (mature), 4 Limes (mature), 2 black Poplars (mature), (black poplars are the most endangered native timber tree in

Britain.) G5: Group containing 12 Limes (Semi mature)

G6: Group containing 3 Limes (Semi mature) G7: Group containing 16 Limes (Semi mature) G8: Group containing 8 Limes (Semi mature)

A1: A1 Lime (Tilia) Japaneese Cherry Blossom Tree (Prunus) Cedar (Cedrus)

Rhustyphina sumach A2: Lime (Tilia) Weeping Silver Birch (Betula Pendula)

A3: Limes (Tilia) Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) Cherry (Prunus) A4: Limes (Tilia) Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) Cherry (Prunus) A5: Small Variety of conifers (Pinophyta),Firs (Abies)

A6: Cherry Blossom Tree (Prunus) A7: Willow (Salix) Silver Birch (Betula Pendula) Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)

A8: Willows (Salix) A9: Lime (Tilia) Alder (Alnus glutinosa) A10: Willows (Salix)

A11: Limes (Tilia) Cherry Blossom Tree (Prunus) Silver Birch (Betula Utilis) Conifers A12: Silver Birch (Betula Utilis) Populus(tremula) Alder (Speckled & Alnus glutinosa)


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A13: Oak (Quercus robur) Alder (Alnus glutinosa) A13a: Leylandii Cypress (Conifer) Japanese Red Maple

A14: Alder (Alnus Glutinosa) A15: Variety of Silver Birch (Betula Utilis) Populus(tremula) Alder (Alnus glutinosa) A16: Variety of woodland area consisting of Silver Birch (Betula Utilis)

Populus(tremula) Alder (Speckled & Alnus glutinosa) Oak (Quercus robur) Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Field Maple (Acer campestre) Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)

A17: Variety of woodland area consisting of Silver Birch (Betula Utilis) Populus(tremula) Alder (Speckled & Alnus glutinosa) Oak (Quercus robur) Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Field Maple (Acer campestre) Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)

A18: Cherry Blossom Tree (Prunus)


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Conclusion The Biodiversity Action Plan of 2009 can be deemed a success as many of the

proposed actions have been fulfilled and are ongoing. Many faithful employees have volunteered their own time in order to complete these tasks; with more than 1100

man-hours being spent making, planting, surveying, training and much more. (Appendix2) These have positively impacted the range and population of wildlife in the local area

and have also allowed local groups such as the Shropshire Wildlife Group to record the area.

Through this planning it has been possible to educate ourselves and Ricoh employees on all aspects of conservation through training, practical sessions and research. By doing this we have received many internal and external awards. In 2010, Ricoh was

awarded “SWM Top 50 Green Leaders” and “Environment agency Best Private Sector Finalist”; and in 2011 received “Business Commitment to the Environment Premier

Award”. These awards have fuelled our thirst for more knowledge, action and acknowledgement in this field.

As we continue our projects regarding the environment and conservation, with the aid of many local conservation societies, we aim to continuously improve our effects on the environment as individuals and as an organisation. We have many more

upcoming projects that aim to improve the aesthetics, conservation status and wellbeing of many of the wildlife species on site as well as upkeep of our previous

projects that will take many years of care and attention in order to attain and maintain the high levels of effectiveness planned.


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Appendix 1: Site Maps


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Appendix 2: Project breakdown of hours

Year Project Date Hours Volunteers Total

hours

Comments/

Information 2009 Pied Flycatcher

Project

10/03/2009 6 5 30 Building nest

Boxes 17/03/2009 6 5 30 Building nest

boxes 24/03/2009 7 9 63 Installing nest



boxes 06/06/2009 4 2 8 Surveying

nest boxes

2010 Small Mammals

Project

01/02/10 6 6 36 Building boxes

11/02/2010 6 6 36 Building boxes 15/02/2010 7 7 49 Installing

Boxes 17/02/2010 7 7 49 Installing

boxes 22/03/2010 5 4 20 Small

Mammal

Training 13/07/2010 2 6 12 Training –

Ercall 14/07/2010 2 6 12 Training –

Ercall 01/09/2010 1 3 3 Small

Mammal

Surveying 02/09/2010 1 4 4 Small

Mammal

Surveying 10/09/2010 3 3 9 Wrekin

Summit 11/09/2010 3 3 9 Wrekin

Summit 14/09/2010 4 4 16 Trapping

Survey 15/09/2010 4 4 16 Trapping

Survey 24/11/2010 6 7 42 Wrekin Forest

Survey (clean

out)

2011

Presentations/

forums

19/07/2011 8 1 8 Ricoh UK

Support

Throughout

year

8 3 24 Forums

including

TGSP, SWF

Surveys 28/06/2011 7 7 49 Granville bird

nesting boxes

Early 6 4 24 Autumn


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September survey

Hedgerows

projects

09/11/2011 6 12 72 Hedge

Planting

30/11/2011 6 7 42 November

Maintenance 11/11/2011 6 3 18 Coppice training

2012 National Nest

Box week

17/02/2012 2.5 6 15 Nest Box

Installation Small Mammal

Survey

27/04/2012 4 6 24 Wrekin and

Ercall Small

mammal

survey RPL Site Tour 11/05/2012 2 5 10 Checking

Small

Mammal

boxes on site RPL

Springwatch x3

June 2012 1.5 12 18 Employee

biodiversity

tours Lightmoor

community

small mammal

survey

09/06/2012 2 7 14 Small

mammal

10/06/2012 2 7 14 Small

mammal SWT open day 04/08/2012 4 3 12 Representing

RICOH at

public events RPL Site Walk 14/08/2012 2 3 6 Checking nest

boxes Small mammal

trapping

30/08/2012 2 5 10 Mammal

trapping 31/08/2012 2 5 10 Mammal

Trapping

2013 National Nest

Box Week

15/02/2013 2 7 14 Checking Nest

boxes Mammal

Tracking

Training

10/04/2013 3 10 30 Training-

Shropshire

Small

Mammal

group Wrekin Survey 26/10/2013 6 2 12 Checking Nest

Boxes Small Mammal

Trapping

10/05/2013 2 5 10 On site

Trapping 11/05/2013 2 5 10 On Site

Trapping Newt Hotel 03/06/2013 1 2 2 Building Newt

Hotel in Kibo

Garden Camera Traps 07/06/2013 2 3 6 Setting up

Camera Traps

on Site Springwatch 1 11/06/2013 1 3 3 Camera Traps Moth Night 14/06/2013 3 4 12 Identifying

moths on site


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Springwatch 2 18/06/2013 0.5 8 4 Nest Box tour Springwatch 3 26/06/2013 0.5 12 6 Small

Mammal

Trapping BESST 17/09/2013 3 3 9 Site tour End of Year

Survey

08/11/2013 6 5 30 Wrekin forest

nest box

survey Moth Spotting 08/11/2013 2 1 2 Deaths head

hawk moth

found on site SWT 20/11/2013 2 3 6 Annual

Biodiversity

Event Camera Traps 22/11/2013 2 2 4 Suspected

Badger

Population

2014 Mammal

Camera

Trapping

Throughout

year

5 3 15

Tree Workshop 21/02/2014 6 9 54

Virgin

Balloon/SWT

reed bed

planting

28/02/2014 2 1 2

Tree Coppicing

and

Hibernacular

Creation

14/03/2014

6 6 36

11/04/2014

6 6 36

Corporate

Biodiversity

Presentation to

EA

22/04/2014

2 4 8

Kick Sample

Training with

SWT

09/05/2014

6 7 42

Kick Sampling

Long Mynd

23/05/2014

6 6 36

Lunchtime

Activity 1 Site

History

03/06/2014

1 3 3

St Gobain

BESST Visit

04/06/2014

3 3 9

Bat Night 10/06/2014

5 2 10

Lunchtime

Activity 2 Kick

Sampling

12/06/2014

1 4 4

Lunchtime

Activity 3

Mammal

Trapping

17/06/2014

1 3 3

HLC Corporate

Biodiversity

Website Tour

19/06/2014

2 2 4


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National Wildlife

Trust Meeting

24/06/2014

6 2 12

Denso

Biodiversity Visit

BESST

25/06/2014

3 3 9

Lunchtime

Activity 4 Future

SUDS Project

26/06/2014

1 3 3

Chemical

Testing Water

Training

30/06/2014

6 1 6

LEP/LNP Leed

Workshop

02/07/2014

3 1 3

SWT/ Eco-

Ninjas Funday

hut

26/07/2014

8 1 8

LEP

Environmental

Champion

Meeting

12/08/2014

2 1 2

Document

Management

training for SWT

16/09/2014

2 2 4

Severn Rivers

Trust Riverfly

Workshop

18/09/2014

7 2 14

Marches LEP

Meeting

30/09/2014

2 1 2

SWT Annual

Corporate

Biodiversity

Event

03/10/2014

2.5 4 10

Harper Adams

Corporate

Biodiversity

Tour

24/10/2014

1.5 3 4.5

TGSP Wesley

Brook

Monitoring

27/10/2014

6 4 24

EA Midlands

Managers Visit-

SUDS Case

study

29/10/2014

2 3 6

Tree Planting

Hem Wood

07/11/2014

5.5 3 16.5

On-Site Hedge

Planting with

SWT/Sutherland

School

21/11/2014

6 6 36


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Breakdown of Hours

Work time

Personal Time

35%

65%

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Yearly Hours

work time

personal time


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Appendix 3: Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity

Shropshire

Wildlife Trust

Title: SWT approach to Corporate Support - The Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity.

Author: Andy Whyle

Summary: Development of a strategy that visualises –

1) Corporate levels of conservational aspiration and projects

2) Wildlife Trust development of partnerships which adds resources.

3) Partnership working to meet the collective needs of both parties whilst targeting the Living Landscape

Decisions required: Council sponsorship of Horizontal deployment of Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity strategy to other Wildlife Trusts.

Content

1. Introduction and Context 2. Benefits 3. Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity 4. Application and Results 5. Summary 6. Recommendations

1: Introduction and Context

Business organisations and corporate bodies are becoming increasingly aware and engaged in sustainability. Forward thinking organisations see this as a business continuity issue, on the premise that unless you become a more sustainable operation then issues such as raw material availability and energy security will create a feedback that will ultimately mean that you cannot operate as a business. This appreciation of sustainability has led to a holistic understanding of the balance that this involves. Some organisations (i.e. Ricoh) now base their approach on the understanding that we should not only stop damaging the planet (reduce environmental impact) but also repair the damage to the planet (improving the self recovery capabilities of the earth). Business organisations are also being driven by customer demand to become more responsible. This demand is met through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) where

Committee: Council

Date: April 30th

2013

Paper:

5.2.2013


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organisations carry out activities which provide evidence that meets this requirement. For many organisations these societal results are captured within the European Foundation for Quality Management’s Business Excellence Model (http://www.bqf.org.uk/). This model is used by many organisations to develop sustainable excellence, capturing enabler and result aspects including leadership, employee engagement and adding value for customers. Businesses are also being driven by more environmental regulation and legislative compliance (Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009, Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010), The forthcoming Water Framework Directive will introduce more challenges, but also business opportunities.

At the national level, there are DEFRA aspirations which aim to halt overall biodiversity loss, support healthy well-functioning ecosystems and establish coherent ecological networks by 2020. There are also results showing that society and conservation charities are rising to the challenge. DEFRA’s UK Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket 2012 shows that the numbers of protected areas and volunteer conservation time have increased in recent years. Since becoming corporate members of SWT in 2008 Ricoh UK Products Ltd have been developing corporate based biodiversity strategy with SWT. Together with Pete Lambert they established 3 rules based on the “think global – act local” philosophy to ensure that both party’s aspirations would be met –

Local: the project should be carried out in the local area to enable employees to appreciate the biodiversity aspects and conservational needs. These could then be passed onto family members, further increasing awareness.

Physical: The physical engagement develops ownership and awareness, leading to increased engagement in biodiversity support by employees in their personal time.

Targeted: identifies clearly the conservational need (i.e. BAP target, species in decline). This can then be used as evidence of meeting a societal aspect (CSR), enhancing the Ricoh brand and developing sustainable business

With these rules established, Ricoh and SWT engaged in the following projects:

– 2009: Pied flycatcher nest box & surveys – 2010: Small mammal nest box & surveys – 2011: Byways-4-Biodiversity Hedgerow surveys – 2012: Eco Ninja Community Surveys / Site biodiversity

These proved successful in developing and applying this strategic approach, and together have supported the Telford Green Spaces Partnership and formation of the Telford Wildlife Forum community group. The Business Environmental Support Scheme Telford (BESST) is a business environmental network (http://www.telfordbesst.co.uk/). Chaired by Ricoh, the group shares and develops sustainability best practice with over 150 other organisations. In 2011 BESST held the first of what is now an established annual biodiversity event. These events showcase member’s biodiversity activities which are carried out with SWT’s leadership. These case studies (e.g. Tudor Griffiths, Ricoh, DENSO, EON, Veolia) show

http://www.telfordbesst.co.uk/


31

how corporate resources are matched with the expertise of SWT, working together to effectively target local biodiversity needs and collectively contribute to the Living Landscape program. In 2012 BESST worked with SWT, Shropshire County Council, Telford & Wrekin Council and other stakeholders to form the Local Nature Partnership (LNP), to bring together and drive Shropshire’s biodiversity strategy. Through these events BESST members now understand that supporting biodiversity increases CSR, adds value to business sites, engages employees, and by extension, the wider local community. 2: Benefits The partnership of Corporate membership offers mutual benefit for both business organisations and the Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trust receives annual membership fees, access to employees for individual membership, corporate resources (manpower/ equipment), develops lobbying capacity and support for local and national issues. As more corporate members develop biodiversity on their own business sites, this collectively contributes to supporting wildlife corridors and assisting the overall biodiversity within a targeted area. Corporate members generate CSR evidence to support sales and contracts, and business excellence model evidence in leadership, employee engagement and social responsibility. These contribute to developing a sustainable business, whilst use of the Trust’s logo shows partnership and commitment. 3: Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity Communication of the benefits of adopting corporate biodiversity activities has proven a challenge. Explaining the corporate benefits, appropriate levels of engagement and aspirations are best portrayed to corporate bodies in a visual representation so that the business facing aspects can be understood. Communications at boardroom level tend to be time constrained, so conveying qualitative aspects can be improved by explaining them through a hierarchy. To reflect this Ricoh, BESST Steering Group and the SWT Membership Development team have developed the Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity. This hierarchy shows a strategy which enables organisations to visualise and plan the level of engagement appropriate to their business. The hierarchy has several levels of engagement whereby an organisation can assess the best starting point for them, and then decide the level that they want to target.

Corporate Membership: at the lowest level, an organisation can join and the membership fees are used to support the Wildlife Trust’s activities.

Support for local conservation projects: This level allows organisations who want to begin their biodiversity journey or don’t have the manpower resources to lead a project to contribute to biodiversity. From a BESST perspective this answers


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questions raised by small to medium enterprises (SME’s) who only have the capacity to release small numbers of employees for projects.

Lead Off-site Conservation projects: Organisations who have the capacity to supply several employees can work in partnership with the Wildlife Trust on targeted local biodiversity projects. This partnership matches corporate resources with the expertise of the Trust. The effects are that Corporate aspirations for evidence are met (community partner etc.) whilst the Trust receives extra manpower for work on nature reserves etc. Volunteers also need training and get experience of the work required (i.e. small mammal Trapping and identification). Corporate volunteers may eventually become autonomous, developing ownership for a specific project (i.e. Wrekin Forest nest boxes) and data capture which can be supplied to the Trust on a frequent basis to support strategic biodiversity action planning.

On-site Conservation: Corporate members who have larger sites can take the experience and training developed off-site and use it to develop and improve their own biodiversity assets and land value. Improved awareness and land management adds value to business sites. Using employee’s specialist knowledge trained by the Trust saves costs of surveys, and adopting management control measures with less environmental impact can reduce future remediation costs.

Integrated Biodiversity Partnership: Ultimately a Corporate member can reach the aspirational position of turning an on-site conservation area into a community asset (i.e. Local Nature Reserve). This has been achieved by Tudor Griffiths and the Wood Lane LNR in managing the site for breeding birds whilst allowing public access. This corporate exemplar has become a community asset and best practice model for other businesses, working in partnership with SWT’s expertise to allow public and employee access to nature.

The hierarchy also shows the level of engagement available to corporate members and their employees. This can range from the contract basis at basic membership level, to developing partnership with the Wildlife Trust on projects and ultimately as a biodiversity advocate. This aspect improves both CSR and employee’s engagement and development. Ricoh has shown evidence of this with the development of its Eco-Ninjas. Through working with the SWT employees have grown from showing an interest in local biodiversity issues, to volunteering for projects, undertaking specialist training, presenting findings as a stakeholder to the local community, to ultimately being invited to join SWT as a Trustee. Business excellence model needs are also matched within this strategy. Corporate membership shows evidence of contributing towards societal results, whilst higher levels of engagement show community partnership working and leadership. Leadership values extol integrity, CSR and ethical behaviour which enhances the organisation’s reputation (adds brand value). Partnership values show how parties work together to achieve mutual benefit for their respective stakeholders, using collective knowledge in generating ideas and innovation. Society values sustain outstanding results that meet the needs and expectations of stakeholders.

The EFQM Business Excellence Model


33

4: Application and Results The expected result of implementing the Hierarchy of Corporate biodiversity is to generate targeted biodiversity projects, involving the expertise of the Wildlife Trust, corporate resources and alignment to community stakeholders. SWT and the LNP have GIS database access which shows areas of conservational need. BESST have members who are also SWT Corporate members. There are also several community groups who volunteer their own time on conservation projects but sometimes lack resources and need assistance. The intention is to utilise the data to overlay these groups, matching BESST members to either their local biodiversity issue and/or their local community group. This will develop awareness and ownership, increase biodiversity and contribute towards the Wildlife Trust’s Living Landscape vision. The process flow has been developed as part of deploying this hierarchy and discussed at a Telford Green Spaces Partnership forum. The discussions were favourable and as a result SWT staff created a Corporate Volunteer Request pro forma to allow the individual stakeholder groups to seek corporate member assistance with local biodiversity projects. This approach will help the community stakeholder groups effectively frame (manpower/time/cost etc.) the project or requirement, which will make it easier for corporate members to allocate resources and “sell” the benefits to their respective senior management teams. The development hierarchy strategy has already contributed towards a review of SWT’s corporate membership package. The new membership matrix now differentiates levels of support and engagement provided by SWT appropriate to the level of corporate membership (Standard-Bronze-Silver-Gold) and matches the aspirational approach of the hierarchy. The hierarchy drives partnership working between businesses and Wildlife Trust’s, and this has resulted in win-win scenarios as different viewpoints, approaches and aspirations are pooled, resulting in innovation. In this partnership SWT has brought biodiversity and national stakeholder access to funding. Ricoh and BESST members have brought corporate strategic sustainability targets and legislative compliance issues. This has resulted in DEFRA based funding being allocated to SWT as part of the national Water Framework Directive development work (Telford Urban Catchments Fund). BESST and SWT have collaborated to develop corporate awareness and engagement. As part of the considerations Ricoh have now carried out a feasibility study into installing a sustainable urban drainage system on site. The intention is that will increase biodiversity whilst improving pollution prevention control (business risk) and working towards the future legislative impacts of the Water Framework Directive to reduce diffuse pollution. The result of this is that you have a conservation charity working with an environmental business network to collectively improve biodiversity, reduce pollution and meet future legislative requirements (compliance).


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5: Summary In summary the Hierarchy of Corporate Diversity –

Has created an overarching framework Will develop targeted conservation projects Establish Strategic Biodiversity Partnership between Business (resource) and

Wildlife Trusts (experts) Develop business, employees and community in awareness & ownership of local

biodiversity issues Improve Business Excellence & Sustainability Improves Brand Value for both Corporate & Wildlife Trusts Has created a mutually effective partnership - working together to create The

Wildlife Trust’s vision of the “Living Landscape”, making Biodiversity sustainable In the compilation of this paper I would like to acknowledge the support of Ricoh & Eco Ninjas, BESST steering group, and from SWT, its staff, Membership Development Team (with assistance from Richard Carpenter) and the Senior Management Team.

6: Recommendations That once the paper has been presented and reviewed, for the Council to consider sponsorship of horizontal deployment of Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity strategy to other Wildlife Trusts.

Financial implications:

Corporate Advocate and Membership Team time & presentation aspects need to be considered when deploying the approach, otherwise no financial investment required.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Hierarchy of Corporate Biodiversity presentation

Appendix 2: Corporate Volunteer Request form


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Appendix 4: Annual Project Summary Reports

Environmental Projects 2009

2009 focused on a bird, the Pied Flycatcher. Pied Flycatchers are amber listed under the UK conservation categories because of steep declines in their population in recent years (around 44%). They are closely associated with oak woodland such as that found on the Ercall and take readily to nest boxes, so the volunteers had high hopes that the majority of the nest boxes would be occupied.

The specific objectives were:

To increase he breeding population of the Pied Flycatcher in the Wrekin and Ercall Woodlands.

To achieve a stable and viable pied flycatcher breeding population on the eastern fringe of its breeding range in Shropshire.

Install 30 nest boxes in the Wrekin and 30 nest boxes in the Ercall Woodland.

Check and repair existing nest boxes in Limekiln Wood to ensure a stock of 20 nest boxes.

On 10th and 17th March volunteers at Ricoh constructed the nest boxes from locally sourced sustainable wood. 5 volunteers gave up their time and a total of 30 hours was spent constructing the boxes alone. Three days were spent installing the nest boxes in the various locations around Telford; 24th March, 31st March ad 03rd April. 9 volunteers gave up their time to hike, climb and scramble around woodlands in order to erect these boxes. A survey was carried out in June 2009 in order to measure the success of installation of boxes. The programme exceeded the expectations of the project’s ornithologist, with most of the boxes having hosted a nest of Pied Flycatcher, Blue Tits or Great Tits. The pied Flycatchers that were found were ringed with identification rings in order for them to be tracked in the future and their breeding monitored. The results were surprisingly impressive with 10 pairs of Pied Flycatchers recorded and ringed with identification bands for future tracking.

In the Wrekin woodland 7 pairs with 44 young were recorded;

In the Ercall Woodland, 1 pair with 6 young was recorded;

In the Limekiln Woods 2 pairs were spotted.


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Appendix 5: Annual Project Summary Reports Environmental Projects 2010

Small mammals were the focus of 2010. In conjunction with Shropshire Wildlife Trust and the Shropshire Small Mammals Group, Ricoh took part in a project involving making and placing nest boxes for monitoring small mammals in the Wrekin and Ercall Woodlands, and later in the year, carrying out a biodiversity survey. This project was started, like the Pied Flycatcher project, due to a steep decline in the population of these species. It was known that dormouse numbers had declined due to loss of habitat but the extent was not know as there was no valid survey data for the local area. The information collected from this project was used to create an overall diversity plan for future conservation activity in the local area. The project was split into three phases.

Phase 1 The first took place in Winter/Spring 2010 and involved constructing and installing 200 nest boxes for small mammals. These were all made from sustainable locally sourced wood. 100 of the nest boxes were made on site at RPL for the project. The nest boxes were installed in two places; the Wrekin Forest Area and Limekiln Woods. The adjacent table shows the volunteers for each part of the project.

Phase 2 The second phase involved monitoring and data capturing of the nest boxes. Before phase two began, Ricoh members were trained

by SWT and Shropshire Small Mammals group on trapping the small mammals, this training was vital as it aided our volunteers and also ensured the safety of the small mammals when they went out trapping. Licensed experts assisted Ricoh employees in temporarily trapping and identifying the small mammals, before releasing them again. Phase 3 Phase three involved putting into practice what the volunteers had been taught by carrying out surveys and live trapping unsupervised by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The table adjacent shows the areas and times this was completed. A Total of 40 mammal boxes were placed just on site here at RPL. These were placed on the top hedgerow near the security hut and the

back area of woodland behind RPL2. When surveyed in late 2010 evidence was found of a number of small mammals including Bank voles, Shrews, yellow neck mice, and pygmy shrew.


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2011 was a busy year. As Ricoh had become well known as an Environmental contributor; there were more opportunities for forums, presentations and large scale meetings with groups such as BESST and the Wildlife Trust. The focus project of this year was however Hedgerow planting and surveying. On 6-8th June 2011, volunteers from Ricoh took part in Hedgerow Survey training. This vital training gave our volunteers the knowledge and confidence to go out surveying hedges in various areas. On 23rd June 2011 the volunteers ventured out to Dothill and Shawbirch in order to survey the hedges there and find out more about the local wildlife. They again went out the following week on 28th June to use their knowledge and training over the last two years to install nest boxes for blue tits and robins in the hedgerows on the Granville. RPL’s Ricoh Eco Global Eco-Action Month (GEAM) was held in June 2011 and highlighted areas of hedgerow that required replanting to fill in the gaps. Hedgerows are an important aspect of the ecosystem as they provide shelter and travel for many species of wildlife. On 9th November Ricoh members went about planting the 275 Bare Root Stock selected by Jon Oakley with advice from Pete Lambert from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. The selection of plants to fill the gaps included Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Hazel, Wild rose Red and Spindle. These species are berry wielding therefore can also provide food for the wildlife over the winter months. The area planted is highlighted below.

2011’s annual nest box maintenance was carried out on 30th November. 120 boxes situated over 4 sites across the Wrekin Forest were checked by the Ricoh volunteers and Stuart Edmunds from the Shropshire Small Mammal Society. The boxes were checked for traces of life and evidence that they had been used and general maintenance and cleaning of them carried out. Many of the boxes had evidence of being used such as small food stores or droppings in them. A few of the boxes were found to have the lid removed or dislodged

which led to a new method being developed of locking the lid in place. Overall, 2011 consisted of many projects which involved sustaining the environments that were created previously such as nest boxes and creating new environments that will last if maintained properly such as the hedgerow “by-way”. 2011 also involved many presentations and forums in order to attain more knowledge and get Ricoh on the conservation map. Through working with Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Shropshire Small Mammal Group Ricoh volunteers gained knowledge and skills as well as presenting Ricoh as an Eco- Friendly Organisation.


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2012 was a varied year with projects for small mammals, birds and a lot more employee involvement and awareness through site biodiversity tours and RPL Springwatch. This employee engagement was vital in advertising projects to new employees who didn’t know much about what happens behind the scenes regarding conservation and biodiversity.

The year kicked off with National nest box week on 14th-21st February and Ricoh volunteers gave up their time to install more nest boxes around site along with numerous bird feeders. Six volunteers gave up their time on 17th February in order to install the nest boxes for Robins and Blue Tits around site.

There were numerous projects on and off site involving small mammals in 2012; the first of which was on 27th April. Four volunteers gave up their Friday in order to venture out to the Wrekin and Ercall forests and survey the mammal traps which they had laid the previous year. After this, in June, volunteers gave up their time to join the Lightmoor community in surveying their small mammals. This was hosted by the Shropshire Wildlife trust and involved many of Lightmoor’s residents and students joining them for talks and tours of the beautiful natural area around them. In the evening on the 9th seven volunteers ventured out in the dark to check the mammal traps for any evidence of habitation. This was repeated first thing in the morning on 10th as many of the small mammals are nocturnal.

2012 hosted an array of on-site opportunities for employees to learn more about what animals have made their home here at RPL. In May, 6 volunteers took part in a site tour in order to check the small mammal boxes that were placed last year. This provided surprising results as we found many species of voles, mice and shrews including the endangered pygmy shrew. In June we also hosted three “RPL Springwatch” tours of site to show employees what is around and what we have been doing over the past few years in regards to wildlife and conservation. There was a great turn up for this with three tours hosting around 35 employees overall.

As recognition for all our hard work, Environment officer, Andy Whyle, was invited to celebrate the 100th Centenary of the Wildlife Trust alongside the Shropshire Wildlife trust in London. The event was hosted at the Museum of Natural History and there were guest appearances from legends such as Bill Oddie, David Attenborough and Aubrey Manning.


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2013 has been a demanding year for our Eco-ninjas. Working with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Shropshire Small mammal group we have been able to learn a lot about our site and its inhabitants; with training on small mammal trapping, moths and others. The year kicked off in April with the Mammal tracking training hosted by Stu Edmonds, chair of the Shropshire Mammal Group and attended by Ricoh employees; Carl Griffin, Stu Mapp, Ian Cheshire, Tim Jones, Rob Beech, Tania Willoughby, Alan Gwilt, Scott Pardoe and Andy Whyle. Stu delivered a presentation outlining the methods of tracking small mammals and the benefits of using motion detector cameras. He then took the Eco ninjas out to look at the West side Hedgerow and along the Wesley brook to spot some mammals.

This was shortly followed by Global Eco Action Month in May where the Eco Ninjas focused their attention on Small mammal trapping once again. This took place on the eastern hedge near Priorslee Lake in Preparation for the upcoming SUDs Project in 2014. Many eco ninjas and volunteers from the Shropshire Mammal Group took part on this wet and cold day, checking at least 10 boxes and finding evidence of rare Shrews.

Once the Eco ninjas had been trained they felt confident enough to conduct their own unaccompanied survey of site at the end of May. They found evidence of many small mammals including, yellow neck mice and pygmy shrews. In June volunteers gave up their Friday night along with the Shropshire Invertebrate group in order to survey Moths. A total of 47 moths of many varying breeds were found and identified with the help of Stephen Mitchell, Lizzie Wright and Tony Jacques of the invertebrate group. We also played host in November to BESST and SWT by hosting a factory site tour and presentation showing the measures that Ricoh have put into place in order to protect the local area. In addition to this Harper Adams Sustainability students visited site in November and received a presentation on sustainability from a business perspective rather than a land owner/agricultural view point.

In addition to all this, 2013 also contained some unexpected events. The first of these was the finding of a Death-Head hawk moth in RPL2 Warehouses. This became headline news as it’s rarity and “stormtrooper mark” on its back and was reported by newspapers such as the Daily Mail online and Shropshire star. In addition to this in December camera traps were set up after spotted by Security and our Eco ninjas noticing some digging marks on site that were a sign of a Badger Population. The camera traps proved useful as 2 badgers, a buzzard and a squirrel were all recorded.


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2014 has been a wet year, both in terms of weather and activities. Working with many local groups including new contacts such as Telford Green Space Partnership, Love your Rivers Telford and Telford’s very own Batman we have crammed in an array of activities this calendar year. The year began continuing on with our new camera traps from December, keeping tabs on our Badger family and finding a fox with two young cubs that loved sunbathing on our site during the summer. Interestingly we found that our badger friend on site had only one eye and that squirrels at the top of the site had a penchant for posing and peanut butter. This year for the first time we also learnt how to Kick sample in order to monitor the quality of the brook behind site and become valuable members in the Environment Agencies water monitoring schemes. Matt Hawkins from Shropshire Wildlife

Trust showed us how to sample and identify invertebrates on site before the Eco-Ninjas ventured to the Long Mynd to compare results. This was followed up by training sessions hosted by Severn Rivers Trust attended by Carl Griffin and Ashlee Savage. Global Eco Action month in June was a great success with lunchtime events being held weekly for Camera Trapping, Site history, kick sampling and the future of the SUDs Scheme. Awareness of what the Eco-ninjas do on site was raised at the family fun day when Carl Griffin and Shropshire Wildlife Trust hosted a stall

which showed kick sampling examples with a water sample taken earlier that day and Sarah and Bryony from SWT making bow and arrows along with hobby horses for children from the coppiced trees on site. John Morgan, a local bat enthusiast also came on site with his detectors and hosted an evening of information and monitoring for Bats on site. Ricoh also became a case study for Shropshire Wildlife Trust Corporate membership which included a day filming on site with Environment Officer Andy Whyle and the Eco-Ninjas. The video can be seen here: http://www.shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/-corporate-membership- A lot of work has also been carried out at the back of site behind RPL2. Following on from a workshop hosted by Matt Hawkins on Winter tree identification and coppicing the thick trees have now been thinned out and glades created in order to prepare the site for the (hopefully) upcoming SUDs area on site. In November the Eco-ninjas were also joined by Shropshire Wildlife Trust and students from The Sutherland Academy in planting a hedgerow along the back of RPL2. The hedges and trees were donated by Alcoa foundation trust and allowed us to improve site security and stop waste from the recycling centre and visiting Lorries from blowing down the hill into the Wesley Brook or the new school behind site.

http://www.shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/-corporate-membership-


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