Carl Cornish, RSPB Senior Business Conservation Adviser, has recently joined the Cemex / RSPB partnership and has shared the following welcome message.
“Hello, I’m the new Senior Business Conservation Adviser for the RSPB-Cemex Partnership. It was good fortune that I joined just as the partnership was celebrating its 15th anniversary. The event at the RSPB’s Head Office was an invaluable opportunity to meet new colleagues in Cemex and RSPB – everyone has been very welcoming. Also to see the impressive legacy of outcomes for nature achieved to date – a fantastic platform from which to take the partnership forward.
A bit about me. I’ve been working for the RSPB for past 14 years in the East Midlands as a Conservation Officer. Most recently for the Sherwood Priority Landscape where I was focusing on lowland heathlands, woodlands and wood pasture habitats and species, ancient and veteran trees and working closely with a community group. I previously covered a larger geographic area, which included the Trent and Tame and Humberhead levels. This has included seeing how the minerals industry can contribute to landscape-scale conservation and undertaking minerals planning casework. Before the RSPB, I’ve been an Ecological Consultant working with developers on protected species’ surveys and mitigation and a Conservation Officer with Notts Wildlife. Whilst in the latter role I oversaw the retro restoration of Lound Gravel Pits.
I live in the Trent Valley in Newark, Notts. The Trent Valley has many sand and gravel quarries, including sites where I go birdwatching. I was privileged to grow up a four-mile bike ride from RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk, and used to spend much time birdwatching there. I grew up seeing wetland specialist birds that were very rare elsewhere in the country in the 1980s. Minsmere inspired me to want to work for the RSPB. Quarry restorations have been instrumental in the recovery of those special species I saw as a teenager and their spread to the Trent Valley. Now I can see Avocets, Bearded Reedlings, Bitterns and Marsh Harriers near where I now live. Restoration of quarries has been one of the big success stories of nature conservation.
It’s been exciting starting this role, getting to know new colleagues and ways of working, and seeing to how to use my skillset and experience to the mutual benefit of Cemex and RSPB. I’ll be supporting Cemex’s biodiversity-led approach to mineral restoration. Biodiversity Net Gain is a new consideration so there is lots to learn about how best that new policy can be put into practice. I’m already engaging on mineral restoration projects.
I’ll be liaising with Sean Cassidy, Cemex Biodiversity Manager Europe, on Biodiversity Management Plans. I’ve helped Sean, along with other European Conservation NGOs and ecologists, judge the photos taken at Cemex sites of wildlife and landscapes. That was enjoyable seeing all the wonderful photos of wildlife that Cemex sites across Europe support.
With the support of RSPB colleagues, notably Catherine Cullen, Minerals Business Advice Manager, I will be developing a programme of training events for Cemex workforce. Another key part of my role is working with Tina Baxter, Communication Adviser for Cemex. We will be working on monthly RSPB-Cemex partnership and wildlife news blogs going forward.
I look forward to further cementing the RSPB-Cemex partnership over the coming years.”
Carl is seen here in the photo along with Catherine Cullen.