In May, we posted how AI claims “We’re at the heart of habitat creation”.
We take responsibility for the environment and communities we operate in, which is why we continue to increase the number of planted trees for habitat creation 🌳 https://t.co/AMvvMcFBqM pic.twitter.com/SZAVwQ0sYX— Aggregate Industries (@AggregateUK) May 16, 2018
We posted:
The company claims "The number of trees we plant is always rising". But it's always worth checking AI's claims. Because, if the company's sustainability reports are to be believed, AI planted 16,800 trees in 2013 (p21) and 3,400 in 2014 (p24).
So... not 4,500 in 2014, and not "always rising".
... at Straitgate, this is what's left of some of those 3,400 trees AI planted in 2014:
But not content with that, AI has done it again:
Plan of action ✅ We implement #biodiversity management plans for all active extraction sites, increasing the number of new hedgerows we plant 👇 https://t.co/nKr7cEXN97 pic.twitter.com/zqYsTVXZMX— Aggregate Industries (@AggregateUK) September 4, 2018
But check out AI's 2015 Sustainability Report:
In 2015 we completed... 110 meters of hedging.
So again, the numbers do not keep growing.
And what AI fails to mention, of course, is the amount of ancient hedgerow that the company grubs up in the first place, and that the hedgerows the company plants are mere saplings – that will take decades to reach anywhere near what was removed.
At Straitgate Farm, for example, AI wants to remove nearly 1500m of 'important' hedgerow – hedgerows dating back hundreds of years – hedgerows that provide habitat for protected bats and dormice – hedgerows up to 4m wide.
So spare us the greenwash AI. Most people will still regard your business as primarily habitat destruction.
#Hedgerows are essential for farmland #biodiversity. In excess of 600 plant, 1,500 insect, 65 bird, and 20 mammal species have been recorded at some time living or feeding in hedgerows! https://t.co/UTSI5Ba4BJ #TuesdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/GtN5Vw0YYs— Woodland Trust (@WoodlandTrust) September 4, 2018
