THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SUSTAINABILITY MAGAZINE Number 46 • 2017 HMS QE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Mud, mines and mitigation OPERATION NIGHTINGALE Archaeological projects benefit recovery of service personnel DIO DELIVERS ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE OVERSEAS in support of new military requirements Foreword by Chris Packham Naturalist and Broadcaster Editors Paradoxically what I like most about DIO Sanctuary Team the Defence Estates lands is that I don’t know them. I’ve visited most Editorial Board of the nature reserves and parks Jane Hallett (Chair) across the UK but only on a handful Richard Brooks of times have I enjoyed access to the vast swathes of countryside Contact managed by the military. And all Defence Infrastructure have been such a treat. I recall with Organisation (DIO), Building enormous fondness a damp day 21, Westdown Camp, Tilshead, on Porton Down in Wiltshire in the Salisbury, SP3 4RS 1980’s when I was shown a fabulous roost of short-eared owls and more [email protected] juniper scrub than I’d ever seen. 01980 674807 You see, I approve of their lack of access, their level of protection in Sanctuary is an annual publication our overcrowded, over-trampled age about sustainable development in and I am reassured that they remain the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and properly protected and managed the sustainable management of with the natural environment in the natural and built assets across mind. Indeed this years Sanctuary the Defence estate. It illustrates Award winners celebrate the how the MOD is undertaking its conservation of Natterjack toads responsibility for stewardship of on Longmoor Camp, the superb educational resource at Foxglove Covert and the the estate in the UK and overseas. extraordinary long term commitment of Roy Canham safeguarding the archaeological It is designed for a wide audience, treasures on Salisbury Plain. Congratulations and thanks to these and all the other from the general public, to worthy nominees. the people who work for us or volunteer as members of the MOD However, this magazine also throws focus on the considerable and successful Conservation Groups. efforts of MOD staff and partners working overseas. I’m particularly drawn to the potentially positive aspects of the reactivation of military training in Belize, a country Sanctuary is produced for the with significant but imperilled natural resources. Reduction of illegal logging and MOD by the Defence Infrastructure hunting and protecting the endangered scarlet macaw, a rain forest icon , would be Organisation. an enormously beneficial aspect of the British Army’s renewed presence. Likewise in Laikipia - Kenya, where a training exercise helped consolidate economic security in a Sanctuary has been printed region fraught with conflict and difficulties. Conservation management and sustainable by the kind sponsorship of the building in the Falklands also exemplify the expanding and flourishing stewardship of Industry Partners below: the Defence Estates, not only at home but all over the world. Top work! I salute you! (If civilians are allowed to do that!) SANCTUARY 46 • 2017 59 Recording the Unique Built Heritage at AWE Sanctuary Awards 60 Breeding Birds of Conservation Concern on the Otterburn Training Area 2 The Sanctuary Awards 2016 62 Public Access on the MOD Estate. The Importance of 2 The Sanctuary Awards 2017 Working Together 64 Seals, sea shells and shifting shorelines. A partnership Sanctuary Features approach to Marine Protected Area management 66 Waste Management Innovations 8 UK Military Training in Belize, considering 67 Powered by Nature – vehicles overseas the Environment 68 Acacia Management on the British Sovereign 11 Operation Nightingale Bases Cyprus 12 A Room with a View. East Chisenbury in the Iron Age 70 The Dstl Porton Down Stone-curlew Conservation Project 14 Climate Change Resilience across the Defence Estate 72 Headley’s Roman Sarcophagus 16 Yardley Chase – A hidden jewel 74 Studying dolphins of the kelp. Falkland Islands 18 Assuring the Future of Britain’s Military Sites of Historic Importance 76 Tree Health. Sennybridge and the wider MOD Estate 20 Pippingford Park CPTA. 30 years of bird surveying 78 Aspire creates a new Dukedom at Larkhill Garrison 22 Defence Munitions Environmental Risk Assessments 24 Provision of Bare Ground Patches for Insects on Sanctuary Around the Regions Lowland Heathland Sites 26 New Pine Rows at Stanford Training Area 80 Spotlight on Foxglove Covert 27 Without a Trace. Safeguarding the Defence 83 Monmouthshire, Caerwent Training Estate 84 Pembrokeshire, Castlemartin 28 Maximising MOD Energy Efficient Behaviours 85 Gibraltar, Raptor Unit 30 Bourley and Long Valley SSSI Turf Stripping Project 86 Isle of Wight, Newtown Range 32 The Ancient Akrotiri Project Dreamer’s Bay and its Environs 87 Wiltshire, Larkhill and Westdown 34 A Matter of Holes and Ditches. New Archaeological 88 Wiltshire, Porton Down Discoveries at Larkhill 89 Anglesey, RAF Valley 36 Mud, mines and the MOD, making space for nature and HMS Queen Elizabeth 90 Kent and East Sussex, SD Training South East 39 Microplastics. Stemming the Tide at Tregantle 91 Scotland, Moray, RAF Lossiemouth 40 Space for Giants and Soldiers on Loisaba 92 Home Counties, SD Training 43 Conservation at East Cove Port 94 Oxfordshire, Bicester 44 The Roman Eagle and the White Ensign 95 Germany, Senne Training Area 46 Making Plants Count on the Defence Estate 96 Cornwall, Penhale 48 Project ANEMOI delivering sustainability remotely 97 Essex, Fingringhoe Ranges 50 Water Consumption reduction. Managing a 98 Devon, Britannia Royal Naval College precious resource 99 Wiltshire, Imber Conservation Group 52 The Return of the Native 100 Environmental Support & Compliance Update 54 MOD Shoeburyness Sea Defences 101 Contacts 56 Operation MARMAT SANCTUARY 46 • 2017 1 SANCTUARY Awards Recognition for outstanding achievement The Ceremony 2016 Each year the launch of Sanctuary Magazine coincides with the Award Ceremony, which is held at Main Building in London and co- hosted by the Minister for Defence, Veterans, Reserves and Personnel and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation Chief Executive Officer, with the Head Office and Commissioning Services (Sustainability Lead for MOD), senior military staff and Sustainability Champions from across all of the armed services and other MOD departments in attendance. Looking back, last year’s ceremony was a great success with the Minister Mark Lancaster presenting the Awards to the winners on stage, he said: ”Today is all about celebrating the men and women responsible for a remarkable and diverse range of sustainability, conservation and environmental projects and initiatives delivered across the Defence estate on behalf of the MOD each year. The diversity of these brilliant projects is dazzling.” The Sanctuary Awards board for 2017 comprised of: FINANCE AND MILITARY CAPABILITY (FMC) Jane Hallett Deputy Head Estates Policy Pippa Morrison Sustainable MOD Policy DEFENCE INFRASTRUCTURE ORGANISATION (DIO) Award winners of 2016 with co-hosts Mark Lancaster MP and Graham Dalton DIO CEO © Crown Alan Mayes Chief of Staff Service Delivery Richard Brooks Sanctuary Awards 2017 Principal Environmental Advisor at ES&C The Ministry of Defence (MOD) prestigious Sanctuary Awards recognises and encourages group and individual efforts that benefit sustainable development, Mark Hill energy saving measures, wildlife, archaeology, environmental improvement or Deputy Head community awareness of conservation on or within land and property that the MOD Energy, Utilities & Sustainability owns or uses in the UK and overseas. EXTERNAL JUDGES The 2017 Awards were divided into five categories: Environmental Project, Heritage Martin Baxter Project, Sustainability Project, Utilities Project and Individual Achievement. The Chief Policy Advisor at the Institute winners of each category were then considered for two further awards. of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) The coveted Silver Otter is awarded to Conservation Groups or individuals, MOD personnel or MOD-led projects. The Sustainable Business Award is awarded to more Marcus Yeo commercial projects who have achieved a particular success in ensuring sustainable Managing Director of the Joint solutions that deliver against the commitment to the armed forces by enabling them Nature Conservation Council (JNCC) to live, train and work. The Judges would like to thank The Sanctuary Award board would like to congratulate, on behalf of the MOD, the Samantha Bevan-Talbot Commerce following winners and runners-up for 2017. Decisions QinetiQ for her assistance with the Award Tool. For further information on entering the 2018 Awards please contact the Sanctuary Team [email protected] 2 SANCTUARY 46 • 2017 INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER Roy Canham MBE. Without Roy the 2200 sites – each given their own unique measures. Roy was never less than archaeological landscape of Salisbury SPTA (Salisbury Plain Training Area) persistent and dogged in ensuring that Plain would have looked very different. In number on his database. all of these measures were adhered the 1970 increasing incidents of damage to - embarking, like a latter-day Daniel to monuments from armoured training Roy participated in often quite heated Defoe, on countless visits across the were being reported. As the County meetings with military commanders to Plain to audit signs and palisades, to Archaeologist for Wiltshire, Roy was well design measures to protect these sites check grazing, or to examine scrub aware not only of the