Okarno Nature Watch: Spring has officially sprung!
After an all‑too‑gloomy and wet start to the year — with the UK facing a record 41+ consecutive days of rainfall — the sun’s more frequent appearances have lifted spirits across Okarno, and we’re sure they’ve brightened your days too. As the winter blues start to shift, the days are starting to look lighter, brighter and warmer and the date of Spring Equinox (20th March) comes along to signal the official beginning of Spring.
Whilst we’re always an energetic, peppy bunch here at Okarno, the start of Spring certainly lifts our spirits – and it also creates some exciting changes around our distribution site.
Biodiversity At Okarno
Situated in a lovely nook on the edge of Ruddington, Nottingham, our site coexists within a beautiful landscape of fields, streams, wooded areas and wildlife reserves. What you may not know is that Okarno also has its very own Biodiversity Area on site, offering a local habitat for a variety of species of animals, flowers and fauna – and spring is creating a flourish of activity and changes in the area.
The area was developed several years back when we were known as Artex. As the success of our business grew, our site needed to grow along with us, and a new car park and holding area was constructed to the east of the site. As a counterbalance to this work, we collaborated closely with EMEC Ecology to kickstart an initial five-year ecology management plan, to utilise the earth removed from the site to build bunds of various heights, to form the creation of our very own Biodiversity Area.
What can be found in the Biodiversity Area?
As part of the ecology management plan, we set out to plant a variety of different grass, plant, trees and shrub species to encourage a diverse range of animals and critters to want to choose our area as their new home.
Among the rich meadow mix that we spread over the site, you can find over 20 common and local wildflower species growing in the area, such as:
Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris)
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor
Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
Wild Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgar)
alongside a range of 11 different grass species
…and more
Over the years, the wildlife and vegetation have continued to flourish bringing with it a plethora of insects, birds, animals, amphibians and other critters. Most frequently we see:
Common birds such as pigeons, magpies, crows
Fox – lots and lots of foxes!
Deer – with a family of deer being known to make a frequent visit
Muntjac
Bats
Frogs
Bees
Badgers
and more…
Some of these being protected species!
See for yourself – to keep an eye on the activity in this area, we have set up our own Okarno Nature Cam: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vzh3WEEXKUg?si=TUfr4Vu4P1R5rDWy
Saint-Gobain’s environmental commitments
The Biodiversity Area at Okarno in Ruddington is only a small success of many in Saint-Gobain’s global environment and carbon neutral strategy. Since 2019, Saint-Gobain has been supporting its pledge of the Global Compact (UN) “Business ambition for 1.5°C”, committing itself to reach net-zero emissions by no later than 2050 in line with the goal to limit the rise of global temperature to 1.5°C.
As part of a more specific environmental strategy, Saint-Gobain has made a commitment to deliver our customers and clients with the greatest added value products and services with minimal environmental impact. As part of this commitment, Saint-Gobain has promised to preserve, restore, strengthen, and enhance the biodiversity of all our sites. We're proud to say that Okarno's Biodiversity Area is a small but important success of this commitment in a much greater global initiative.
To read more about Saint-Gobain’s Biodiversity Policy and Net Zero strategy, click here.