- Consultancy services will deliver biodiversity baselines for Manchester Airport and East Midlands Airport landholdings.
Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has been selected to conduct two biodiversity studies for Manchester Airports Group (MAG).
The studies at Manchester Airport and East Midlands Airport will support the development of a comprehensive, qualitative biodiversity baseline at each location. They will help enable the delivery of MAG’s nature targets outlined in its new Sustainability Strategy, supporting its overall sustainability ambitions and future growth.
Costain’s experts in sustainability and geographic information systems (GIS) will manage and conduct a range of physical and digital surveys covering more than 1,500 hectares of grassland, ponds, scrubland and urban habitats, to help establish a biodiversity baseline at each site.
Costain will record habitat areas, types and conditions whilst its GIS experts will accurately measure each site’s biodiversity value relative to the UK statutory biodiversity metric set out by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
Furah Naeem, principal aviation consultant at Costain, commented: “Costain is committed to creating a more sustainable future for the UK by implementing nature-positive initiatives that enhance biodiversity and delivering low carbon solutions that reduce emissions across the infrastructure ecosystem.
“All of our projects have a biodiversity net gain plan, and we’re bringing our skills and experience to help MAG understand the biodiversity baseline at two of its major airports."
“We have a strong track record of managing biodiversity projects and utilising GIS platforms across a range of sectors, and we will use this experience to support MAG's sustainability ambitions.”
Furah Naeem Principal aviation consultant at Costain
Isabella Mcquillan, biodiversity infrastructure manager, MAG, said: “We are steadfast in our support for local communities and protecting the environment. As landholders, MAG plays an important role in protecting, enhancing and championing biodiversity."
“We believe that Costain’s approach to delivering these important projects will help to ensure that our airports can continue to grow sustainably and responsibly, with utmost regard for the communities and environments in which we operate.”
Isabella Mcquillan Biodiversity infrastructure manager at MAG
Costain has a strong track record of delivering environmental benefits across its infrastructure projects. For example, the A30 dualling scheme between Chiverton and Carland Cross, which opened for traffic last year, is predicting a biodiversity net gain of 20%. Costain’s in-house sustainability experts have also created a tool to identify and ‘design out’ potential carbon hotspots at the earliest possible stage of infrastructure projects.
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