BBOWT
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
Panasonic UK have been corporate partners of the local branch of the wildlife trust for over 20 years. Throughout the duration of the partnership several volunteer days and workshops have been held at wildlife trust sites to help and aid the conservation work they are undertaking. Panasonic also host BBOWT workshops and events at our headquarters in Bracknell.
This partnership has been long and fruitful for both parties. The link with the wildlife trust has allowed Panasonic employees to get in touch with, and experience, their local environment and improve it for themselves and the surrounding community.
Furthermore, Panasonic have donated products such as, LUMIX cameras to give away as photography competition prizes and display units for BBOWT field centres.
In the late 2017, 9 Panasonic Industrial Placement students took part in a volunteer day in support of BBOWT (Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire wildlife trust) at Snelsmore Common near Newbury. Snelsmore Common contains a range of habitats including heathland, wet mires and woodland and is home to nationally rare bird species including nightjar, woodlark and tree pipit. Over 75% of the lowland heath like Snelsmore has been lost in the last 150 years and as a result many birds and other animals that inhabit heathland are nationally very rare. Work to restore the heathland at Snelsmore Common involves a combination of tree and bracken removal, and livestock grazing. It is important to help maintain their habitats so that these species remain protected.
It was a cold and frosty start at 10am as the students put on their wellies and gloves to help cut down invasive scrub species in order to help preserve the heathland environment. All students worked tirelessly until it began to get dark around 4pm. Overall they had cleared approximately half an acre of land giving these protected species a much larger area to build their homes for the winter. Students could also talk with experts from the Trust to learn about their recent activities and hear about local opportunities to get involved with the Trust.
We have been sponsors of this wildlife trust for over 20 years. Part of Panasonics basic business philosophy is to make sure we always contribute to society, BBOWT gives us the opportunity to give back to our local environment in Berkshire. We have worked with BBOWT on many activities including bird box building, festivals, photo competitions and much more. This activity is one of the many that we will continue to help BBOWT with for many years to come.
This activity helped both BBOWT and Panasonic in our individual missions. For BBOWT it gave many extra hands to help preserve the wildlife of the common. For Panasonic this volunteer day helps in achieving our aim for a “Better Life a Better World” by getting hands on with what the Wildlife Trust do as an environmental charity. We are committed to properly understanding the impact of our business activities on biodiversity which led us to develop the Green Plan 2018. This was a great chance to give back to the environment and continue to strengthen our relationship with BBOWT.