Turn old quarries into wildlife havens, councils are urged

Councils are being urged to do more to help to turn thousands of acres of old quarries into nature reserves which could support wildlife such as natterjack toads, otters and nightingales.

Conservationists made the call as a new team of experts was announced to work with planners, landowners, quarry operators and local communities to help to turn sites into habitats such as woods, wetlands and heathlands.

The creation of the team of officers marks a new phase in the Nature After Minerals scheme run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Natural England with support from the Minerals Products Association which aims to establish high-quality habitat on former quarry sites.

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The majority of quarries in England could be turned into wild areas, creating thousands of acres of space for threatened species, the RSPB said.

The RSPB believes almost 56,000 hectares of active mineral sites in England alone would be suitable for restoring into one or more of 17 different habitats which the Government listed as priorities for conservation.

Focusing efforts on sites close to existing habitat could mean targets to increase the amount of nine different landscapes including lowland heathland, wet reedbeds and grazing marshes could be met or even exceeded, the charity said.

But the RSPB's conservation director Mark Avery said conversion to wild habitat could become "mired in bureaucracy", and some councils needed to do more to help mineral sites to become nature reserves.

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"Quarries can have a major impact on the landscape but once they have reached the end of their life they have a fantastic potential to deliver habitats for threatened wildlife. There are some wonderful nature reserves up and down the country which have been created in former quarries, with wetlands for otters and wading birds, woodland for nightingales and woodpeckers, heathland for natterjack toads and grayling butterflies and much more besides.

"We will now have a small team of officers on the ground working with operators, planners, landowners and the local communities to ensure restoration plans for former quarries become reality and I am confident they will make a real difference."

He went on: "Some county councils, like Surrey for example, are thinking very proactively in this area and making real headway. But sadly the same cannot be said everywhere.

"Turning a gravel quarry into an area of lakes, reedbeds and meadows is a major planning exercise which can take years and get mired in bureaucracy.

"Councils are often not doing enough to get these plans through quickly and smoothly and as a result we may be missing vital opportunities to provide habitat for wildlife."