A manufacturer in Somercotes has been celebrating industrial biodiversity after becoming a designated Local Wildlife Site.

BASF, located on Wimsey Way, was awarded the status by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in March this year.

Earlier this week, on Monday (May 22) – World Biodiversity Day – the company welcomed customers onto the site and explained its transformation.

The work to become a designated Local Wildlife Site – defined as “exceptional areas of land and some of our most valuable wildlife” – in 2017 when the firm embarked on a five year plan to transform a water-logged field, unsuitable for business use.

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BASF was told that there was a small enclave of rate butterflies in the vicinity of the site, so the team worked with wildlife experts to create a habitat to assist future colonisation.

Diane Rodger, a BASF volunteer, said: “We have had a lot of success attracting butterflies including the Dingy Skipper, the Common Blue and the Small Copper.

“The work we have done around the edges of the meadow, such as creating log stacks for insects and erecting bird and bat boxes, has meant that we have now created a vital ‘wildlife corridor’ for the area’s flora and fauna.”

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Looking ahead, BASF will continue its work and will look to encourage a wildlife pond.

Nick Maybury, site manager, said: “To have our manufacturing site’s ecological features highlighted in the Wildlife Trust’s register is really beyond our wildest dreams.

“And it’s not just the wildlife that is benefitting. To be part of such a biodiverse site is incredibly positive for all of us who work here at BASF in Alfreton.”

BASF is the leading supplier of polyurethane solutions for systems and specialities. You can find out more about the company’s site on Wimsey Way here.

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