GOLD
South West Peatland Partnership: Restoring and championing peatland across Cornwall, Dartmoor and Exmoor.
The South West Peatland Partnership ((Natural England, South West Water, Duchy of Cornwall, National Trust. Cornwall Council, Environment Agency) is working to restore 2,634 hectares of degrading peatland, preventing the emissions of 652,625 tonnes of CO2e. Over 20 businesses, landowners, charities, contractors and authorities are working together to tackle erosion and damage to peatlands and champion the role of this ecosystem in all our lives. As a result restored areas on the peatlands of Exmoor, Dartmoor and Cornwall are already holding back water, reducing peak storm flow by just under half in places, bringing back birds like dunlin, and are shown to reduce dissolved organic carbon runoff by a third. Innovation has been key in achieving this such as trialling the use of local wool and wood byproduct in restoration approaches, and investment in technology and training to have created over 60 roles underpinned by peatland restoration.
BRONZE
Forest Holidays: Our holidays are good for people and planet
Forest Holidays is a genuine example of how a sustainable rural business can successfully balance economic, social and environmental interests. Our product directly protects, restores and conserves the natural environment. Unlike many other holiday providers, nature conservation is an integral component of our business, from the way we design and build our locations, to our long-term biodiversity enhancement strategies and our day-to-day operations.
We’re stewards of 244.5 hectares of UK forests (80% of which is managed for conservation) and our business is designed to respect nature and benefit ecosystems. We go above and beyond other ‘holiday providers’. Working with ecologists; landscape architects and arboriculturists; and our partners Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland and Natural Resources Wales. Our public-private sector partnership was created to broaden experiences and extend the public benefits the nation’s forests deliver, whilst contributing a sustainable income to help preserve them for years to come.
ONE-TO-WATCH
Ambipar: Sustainable Biocapsules – Transforming Waste Into Trees
The project consists of reusing industrial waste to create a product that helps restore degraded areas, promoting reforestation.
Pharmaceutical waste from medicine capsules, made from collagen and that have not passed the quality process, whether due to color, size or expiration date, are reused to place a soil conditioner (organic fertilizer) made from paper waste inside. and cellulose (cellulosic pulp, wood bark, chips, biomass), and also seeds from native trees, forming Sustainable Biocapsules. The seeds used can be from any biome such as Atlantic Forest, Amazon Forest, Cerrado, Caatinga, Pampa, among other more specific ones as well.
Through autonomous drones, the biocapsules are launched in areas that have suffered deforestation, fires, etc., and in contact with water, they dissolve releasing the capsule’s nutrients such as macro (Phosphorus, Nitrogen and Potassium) and micronutrients (Boron, Zinc , Manganese, Copper) and seeds for germination. The drones used are autonomous, that is, they do not require a pilot during the flight, programming the flight time, speed, altitude, and controlling the seed dispersion speed through a disperser that carries up to 20,000 biocapsules per flight.
Thus, the project transforms waste into trees.