Conservation, access and recreation
These pages of our report review the projects and proposals that have contributed to furthering conservation, access and recreation on our land during the 2007/08 financial year. Please see the PDF attached below entitled "Conservation, Access and Recreation report" for a full account of our activities.
Much of the catchment land we own is located in some of Britain’s most stunning countryside. This includes land in the Lake District and Peak District National Parks, the West Pennine Moors, and the Bowland Fells. Managing these landholdings is a key part of our sustainable approach to running our business.
The way we manage our catchments is to put the protection of raw drinking water quality as our top priority. The biggest single threat to water quality is the impact from agricultural activity and we therefore work very closely with our tenant farmers to ensure that we minimise the risk to water quality.
In addition, we seek to balance the sometimes conflicting needs of a variety of different stakeholders. We have a statutory duty to promote access and recreation and we aim to deliver that duty in a way which protects and where possible enhances the biodiversity of that natural environment.
Our environment and community team is dedicated to the management of our larger estates across the North West. We have four regional catchment teams and a policy team, all committed to protecting raw water at its source whilst preserving and improving conservation, access and recreation on our estates. The team is also responsible for delivering the groundbreaking Sustainable Catchment Management Programme.
Each year, we invest in the assets on our landholdings. In 2007/08, our capital spend totalled £2.3 million,a breakdown of the spend can be found in the document links below along with projected spend for 2008/09.
For further information about the conservation and biodiversity activities in our regulated business and beyond, please see the biodiversity pages