Restoration & Conservation Sites

Aggregates can only be extracted where they are found. This means that quarries are often located in the countryside. However, quarrying is a temporary land use and progressive restoration, once extraction has been completed, means that sites are effectively ‘borrowed’.

CEMEX applies careful planning to ensure a balance between the need for raw materials and protection of the environment. The company’s standards of environmental performance are among the highest in the world. It includes rigorous day-to-day management of operations and high quality restoration of land that has been worked. More than £1.2 million is allocated to restoration projects every year. CEMEX has succeeded in outstanding developments through partnership with various community groups, local authorities, commercial organisations, NGO’s and charities. CEMEX's restoration achievements include:

Branton Conservation Nature Area

Branton Conservation Nature Area

This stunning nature conservation area was, until fairly recently, a sand and gravel quarry which has been progressively restored.

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Attenborough gravel pits home to rare wild birds and award-wining nature centre.

Cossington Meadows

Cossington Meadows

Cossington Meadows provides natural floodplain and wetland habitat.

Berkswell Quarry

Berkswell Quarry

CEMEX UK has transformed former sand and gravel pits at Berkswell Quarry in the UK’s Midlands into a 22-hectare nature reserve.

Lackford Lakes

Lackford Lakes

Created from former gravel pits, the Lackford Lakes are now part of a diverse nature reserve.

Staveley Carrs

Staveley Carrs

Quarry restoration leading to rediscovery of 18th century wetland renowned for rare flora.

Taffs Well

Taffs Well

With rare peregrine falcons nest at working quarry site. CEMEX UK’s Taffs Well quarry in Wales demonstrates how a working quarry can support rare species.

Wick Golden Valley

Wick Golden Valley

Former ochre mine at Wick Golden Valley provides a home for eight bat species, playing host to a variety of flora and fauna and demonstrates the …

Rugeley Quarry

Rugeley Quarry

CEMEX UK is working alongside the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to restore the lowland heath surrounding its Rugeley Quarry. This has been …

Amwell Natural Reserve

Amwell Natural Reserve

Amwell Nature Reserve becomes an internationally recognised location for attracting rare wintering water birds and 19 species of dragonfly and damselfly.

Blackwater Valley

Blackwater Valley

CEMEX UK restored former gravel pits in the Blackwater Valley in Berkshire to create the Moor Green Lakes Nature Reserve. Since then, our employees and community …

Southam Quarry

Southam Quarry

CEMEX UK has partnered with Butterfly Conservation to create habitats for threatened species at its Southam quarry in Warwickshire. The work has been so successful in …