Guernsey Water makes environmental changes

Sunday 12 January 2020

Guernsey Water has started to cut back on the amount of herbicides used on its land, as part of plans to encourage biodiversity.

Starting this month, the utility will also be reducing the contracted cutting of existing grassland areas and hedges on its sites.

Both habitats have recently been highlighted as being in substantial decline over the past 20 years.

It is hoped the changes will help species such as the Glanville Fritillary butterfly - a rare species which has been identified on one of the Guernsey Water sites.

Pictured: Glanville Fritillary butterfly.

"The primary purpose of our sites will always be to provide water and wastewater services, but they also give us a great opportunity to promote biodiversity," said the utility's General Manager, Steve Langlois. "Where it works in harmony with our operations and the environment, we are also interested in allowing recreational access to some of our sites; we recognise the educational and health benefits that can come from this.

"Last year, we were lucky enough to have a post graduate volunteer with us who carried out biodiversity surveys at several of our sites. These surveys were then developed into biodiversity action plans in collaboration with members of the group, allowing us to make informed changes to our existing grounds maintenance contracts in order to promote and improve biodiversity at our sites."

Although the utility has not committed to eliminating the use of herbicides completely, it has only permitted use for the management of invasive species like Japanese Knotweed.

 Guernsey Water plans to conduct more biodiversity studies in the future to see how its changes are impacting the environment. It also hopes to increase the number of sites with dedicated biodiversity action plans.