Ground Control launches 100-acre environmental recovery site
UK-based grounds maintenance company, Ground Control is launching Devana, a new centre for environmental recovery in West Wickham, Cambridgeshire in line with its nature recovery network remit.
The 100-acre West Wickham site aims to contribute in large part towards Natural Cambridgeshire’s goal to increase land managed for nature across the region from 8%, one of the lowest in the country, to 16%, the national average.
Devana will include approximately 25 native tree species, 20 native shrubs, and a variety of native wildflowers and grasses, creating species-rich habitats to support the colonisation of local fauna including pollinators, birds, and mammals.
Converting arable land of low biodiversity to high biodiversity value, reducing the land’s carbon footprint through the absorption, and storing of carbon through permanent vegetation cover.
Jason Knights, managing director at Ground Control says: “We are committed to reversing the decline of biodiversity in the UK in collaboration with experts and the wider private sector, which owns around 18% of land in the UK. Together, we can lead by example to gain actionable insights that transform environments and inspire wider change.”
The site offers three public footpaths to encourage the engagement with nature and will provide jobs to those in the area, with local agricultural contracts used for a majority of the habitat creation and management works.
Devana marks Ground Control’s second site, its first being the 296-acre Wildfell Centre for Environmental Recovery in Braintree, Essex.
Ground Control is presently conducting baseline surveys at Devana, including habitat & ecology, soils nutrients & carbon, and trees & hedgerows to inform optimum habitat type creation and baseline reference for future progress.
The national grounds maintenance provider is the 2021 winner of the Pro Landscaper Sustainable Company of the Year award after becoming 100% carbon-neutral in 2020 and in the same year establishing the Evergreen Fund, dedicating 5% of its annual net profits to a £5m Impact Venture Fund ‘committed to environmental initiatives and carbon sequestration’.