Protecting biodiversity

The way in which we manage water and wastewater can have a big impact on biodiversity – the variety of plants, animals and habitats that can be found in the natural environment. We can affect biodiversity in many ways, and biodiversity can also affect our business.

For example:

• We own reservoirs, grassland, woodland and many other sites that have local, national and international biodiversity interest. Some sites are also legally protected. We need to ensure we fully consider this in our planning and operations.

• We can affect protected species when we work outside our sites too – for example, when building new water pipelines in the countryside or working near trees in urban environments. The presence of protected species or habitats can influence where or how we work, or affect the time of year we can carry out certain construction or operational activities.

• Biodiversity is a good indicator of water quality – for example, healthy rivers tend to support a wider variety of species including plants, insects, fish and mammals.

• Invasive or non-native species can damage our sites, affect our operations or threaten native wildlife. These include plants like Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and New Zealand pygmyweed. We need to identify and control these species on our own sites or where we are carrying out engineering projects.

• The way we manage our business can affect biodiversity beyond London and the Thames Valley too. By reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, for example, we can reduce our impact on climate change and help protect global biodiversity.

To help ensure we have a positive impact on biodiversity and the natural environment, we are now reviewing and updating our Biodiversity Policy.

We are also working to update our Biodiversity Action Plan, which was originally published in 1999, and aim to launch a new Biodiversity Strategy later in 2010, the United Nation's International Year of Biodiversity.