1 December 2008

St Modwen Properties plc, one of Britain's largest property developers, is the surprise winner of this year's Marsh Award for the Promotion of Lepidoptera Conservation.

Intensive farming has destroyed butterfly habitats throughout much of rural Britain. Some threatened species have found refuge in urban areas on former industrial "Brownfield" sites. These include the threatened Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper butterflies, which have been given priority conservation status under the UK Biodiversity Plan.

The government wants to see brownfield sites used for development, setting up potential clashes between developers and conservationists.

St Modwen, an expert in the regeneration of such sites, sets a positive example of how to resolve such conflicts.

It works with local experts from Butterfly Conservation in the Midlands identifying important butterfly colonies on sites earmarked for development. It then ensures their habitat is preserved. In several cases, the company has gone even further and created additional new habitat nearby. Locations include:

• Berryhill a former colliery in Fenton, Stoke on Trent (Dingy Skipper)
• Long Marston a former MOD site near Stratford-Upon Avon (Grizzled Skipper)
• Coombs Wood Industrial Estate, a former steelworks in Halesowen (Green Hairstreak)

Butterfly Conservation has also given a Lifetime Achievement Marsh Award for Lepidoptera Conservation to Alan Stubbs. Alan pioneered the conservation of insects in the former Nature Conservancy and since his retirement has dedicated his life to supporting volunteer groups including Butterfly Conservation.

Dr Martin Warren, Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation said:

St. Modwen are worthy winners. They have proved that commercial companies and national land developers can also be good conservationists. We congratulate their Chairman, Anthony Glossop, and other senior managers at St Modwen for showing that there can be a win-win situation if conservationists and developers work together.

Anthony Glossop, Chairman of St Modwen said "The members of our team involved got a real buzz out of helping the environment whilst doing their normal jobs. I would recommend any company like us to get involved with Butterfly Conservation."

The Marsh Awards are sponsored by the Marsh Christian Trust, and recognise the unsung heroes of wildlife conservation.

Brian Marsh, Chairman of the Marsh Christian Trust, said: "It is refreshing to hear of a property developer who quite willingly entered into a conservation scheme in order to protect butterfly breeding sites and we hope St Modwen Properties will continue this good work in the years to come".