As TNEI celebrates its 25th anniversary, employees are taking part in various activities throughout the year to mark the momentous occasion.
On a sunny September day, TNEI saw the whole team from the Newcastle office spend the day on the Northumberland coast, volunteering their time and skills in the Bamburgh sand dunes with local charity Northumberland Coast Conservation Team (Coast Care Trust).
Colleagues were tasked with supporting the charity in tackling the invasive plant species Pirri Pirri Burr. This task carries international importance on this site which is a SSSI (Site of Significant Scientific Interest) and a protected AONB designation (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
The spread of Pirri if left unchecked, would shade out native dune botanicals and Marram grasses. This would threaten the health and stability of the dunes and leave the dunes vulnerable to coastal erosion, impacting on the biodiversity of invertebrates and pollinators and the food source for our internationally important migratory coastal birds.
Our team benefited from gaining some hands-on practical conservation experience, an opportunity to learn a new skill, improved health and wellbeing, whilst assisting with conservation of this landscape and helping local wildlife habitats (some of the team even took the chance for a nice lunchtime swim)!
Thank you to Emma and all of the Northumberland Coast Conservation Team for a fantastic educational and worthwhile day. We are looking forward to seeing what the other offices have planned for the rest of the year as TNEI marks this significant milestone anniversary!
