Businesses urged to consider benefits of environmental biodiversity

Representatives from Northern Ireland's business community will gather on Wednesday March 15 at the Belfast Innovation Centre to discuss the important role that business has in promoting and supporting biodiversity.

The event, organised by the Scotland & Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER), Environmental Heritage Service and Invest Northern Ireland, will showcase the latest SNIFFER report entitled 'Business and biodiversity - assessing the practical benefits to business'.

Trevor Elliott, SNIFFER's Business Development Manager, invited businesses to attend the event. He said: "The aim of this seminar is to encourage businesses to view environmental commitment as part of their day-to-day operations and to realise that it can create an important commercial advantage over competitors, engage and motivate employees and deliver tangible bottom-line commercial benefits."

The free event requires registration at www.sniffer.org.uk/bioinvitation.

The report, which features a range of case studies from Northern Ireland and Scotland, is designed to help businesses understand how they can help meet national biodiversity objectives.

Two local companies will be amongst the speakers at the event. Representatives from the Lagan Group and Belfast City Airport will explain how, in addition to the important benefits of improved reputation, positive interaction with the local community and staff morale, their commitment to protecting biodiversity has delivered tangible the business benefits.

Lagan for example have found that 90% of tenders for new contracts include questions on ISO 14001 and other environmental criteria and its biodiversity work in protecting and conservation of birds such as peregrine falcons and sand martins greatly strengthens its proposals. Work by Lagan on alternative uses for quarry dust, in which it is blended with municipal compost to create an alterative to peat, also shows commercial promise.

Belfast City Airport has successfully balanced biodiversity with the need for safety by working in partnership with the RSPB to create a nature reserve that encourages birds to the site that do not increase the risk for aircraft using the airport. Through managing the types of birds on the site and encouraging large flocks of birds to use an alternative location, the airport has suffered no negative impacts from the reserve and may have reduced incidence of damage to aircraft from bird strikes.

Tracy Meharg, Managing Director of Innovation and Capability Development at Invest NI, who will also be speaking at the event, said: "Northern Ireland firms, regardless of size, have a responsibility to protect the environment in which they operate including safeguarding the region's biodiversity. This seminar is an opportunity for local businesses to learn from both the experts and their peers how to facilitate biodiversity objectives and reap the resulting business benefits."

(SP/GB)