Arjowiggins Graphic Team Helps Conserve Great Crested Newts
A team of staff from Arjowiggins Graphic UK, the leader in the development of environmental paper solutions, took a day out of the office to donate their time to conservation. The team worked to restore the area surrounding a local pond, inhabited by Great Crested Newts.
Working with Chineham Conservation Group, the team of eight spent the day restoring part of the perimeter fence, restoring the main path into the site and coppicing the overgrown area to the South of the pond. The work resulted in increased accessibility to the pond for visitors and an improved habitat for the Newts and other local wildlife, including other amphibians and reptiles.
The conservation day follows the success of last year’s Conservation Day, at which the team coppiced an overgrown area of Great Sorrell’s Copse.
“This is a major site. The Great Crested Newts are living and breeding in these ponds and they are actually doing very well. We have Newts, Frogs, Lizards, Slow-worms and they are all doing really well here which is very nice to know when you hear of all the horror stories that we are losing our nature.”
Great crested newts are a European protected species. The animals, its eggs and their breeding sites and resting places are protected by law. In the last century great crested newts have declined across Europe, mainly as a result of pond loss and deterioration, making sites such as Popley Pond of great importance.
“As a recycled paper manufacturer, for all of us in the team the environment is very important and is part of our ethics and company policy. It was a natural course to look at a charity that was involved in the environment. It’s also a really good team building day, it’s really fun and it helps the community.”
