MIRA Technology Park, the leading global location for sustainable mobility innovation, confirmed that its 850-acre site, which is home to car makers and automotive technology firms, has achieved certification of The Wildlife Trusts Biodiversity Benchmark for land management.
The benchmark is a respected, rigorous and long-established standard for the management of commercial landholdings for wildlife and nature. Following hot on the heels of a King’s Award for Sustainable Development in May, The Wildlife Trusts Biodiversity Benchmark forms part of the company’s enablement of the automotive industry’s progression towards mitigating climate change impact.
During the past 18 months, the company has actively pursued a 20-point plan to focus on site biodiversity alongside other related environmental considerations, including reaching net zero for scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2030 which includes investing in a 7MW solar array to support renewable energy production on site, as well as implementing hydrogen production to support the development of net zero mobility.
This focus on biodiversity across the site has supported more than 400 different species of flora and fauna on site, 28 acres of wild meadow planted in partnership with Severn Trent, 150 bat and bird boxes and three beehive colonies, 600 new trees, and three acres of wetland habitat.
In the pursuit of the benchmark, MIRA Technology Park has researched best land management practice with other venues and site owners as well as building out community outreach by hosting local schools and scout groups to take part in nature activities, such as tree planting. And, despite securing recognition from The Wildlife Trusts, more planting and enrichment of the site’s biodiversity is underway including woodland walks, and linear parks created between building plots
MIRA Technology Park is home to HORIBA MIRA, one of Europe’s leading automotive engineering consultancies and a range of car makers from Polestar to Bentley, tier suppliers such as Bosch and a cluster of high-technology auto tech businesses proving out new clean propulsion vectors, such as hydrogen, to companies pioneering autonomous vehicle technologies.
Tim Nathan, MIRA Technology Park’s Managing Director, said: “For the past 12 months, our business has been diligently focused on all aspects of its ESG programme to take a leadership position on net zero vehicle development. Today’s news recognises our specific progress in the active management of our site biodiversity.
“It means that our established OEM clients have immediate downstream compliance for their engineering and testing requirements and our newer, scaling tech customers have to spend less time and resource to satisfy investor requirements or achieve positive bid scores. For all our customers, the Biodiversity Benchmark is yet another way we enable every aspect of their business requirements.”
James Calow, Biodiversity Benchmark Quality Assurance Assessor at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Businesses play an enormous role in environmental stewardship through the management of their landholdings.
“MIRA has demonstrated a considerable commitment to wildlife by meeting the rigorous standard of The Wildlife Trusts Biodiversity Benchmark. We look forward to seeing further bold and ambitious action for nature from MIRA, as well as the rest of the automotive industry.”
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