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ENVIRONMENT
The Jersey Royal Company recognises the importance of having a focussed environmental policy and strives to improve itself. As part of this, The company continues to take part in the Jersey Countryside Renewal Scheme and is the current holder of the local award. (insert photo)
All produce grown and marketed by The Jersey Royal Company adheres to strict criteria outlined in its own environmental management policy which is based on the ISO14001 standard.
The company is accredited by the following schemes:
Assured produce www.assuredproduce.co.uk
Tesco ‘Nurture’ – Gold Standard
M&S ‘Field to Fork’
LEAF Marque www.leafmarque.com
The aim is to grow in a sustainable manner and the company has a number of initiatives that minimise our environmental impacts:
• Continual reduction of inputs year on year
• Reduce - re-use and recycle approach to waste
• Energy efficiency
• Wildlife and landscape conservation and enhancement
The Jersey Royal Company is committed to farming in a sustainable manner that has a minimum impact on both the local and global environment. The nature of our work brings us in constant contact with the natural environment around us, much of which has been taken for granted. In order to fill its moral and customer obligation the company has developed a programme of conserving the natural landscape which acts as habitats for the Island's wildlife. The programme extends not only to conservation but also to enhancement and so new habitats are being created.
The Island has a rich diversity of species some of which are common throughout Western Europe, some are rare migratory visitors and a few of which are endemic to the Island. The aim of the company is to maintain habitats for those common species found and create specific habitats for the rarer species.
In order to limit the impact of our farming operations and develop our conservation and enhancement programme an ‘Integrated Management Policy’ has been written which describes how our current operations are developed to reduce environmental disruption but crucially also has a development programme of conservation and enhancement with suggested timescales where appropriate. To gain some expertise in this field the majority of projects have been developed in conjunction with local agencies and groups who are acknowledged as being specialists in their field.
The expansive layout of the farm is not unusual of farming practices in the Island but it does make both the farming operations and any wildlife and conservation efforts more difficult. To aid the co-ordination of both farming operations and wildlife conservation and enhancement JR(pm) have invested in the Digimap Mapping System that can be used to visualise the Island's features such as field boundaries, road networks, buildings, watercourses etc.
Projects include:
• Creation of nesting landscapes for Skylark
• Creating and developing nest sites and feeding areas for barn owl, long eared owl, and kestrel
• Development of wetland and wetland meadows
• Sowing conservation crops specifically for insects, residential birds and migratory species
• Regeneration of natural features through of planting of native trees and hedgerows (over 3000 trees were planted in February 2007)
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