Say Mexico and the mind conjures up spaghetti westerns, sombreros and tequila. In my case, it also brings fond memories of my first ever car, a bright orange Ford Escort Mexico; a rather battered and rusty carriage, but my first opportunity to really explore worlds previously beyond reach from my isolated rural family home.
So my surprising fact of the day is that CEMEX, the company supplying most of the concrete and many other buildings materials for London's constantly changing cityscape, started in Mexico in 1906. The clue's in the name. Today, not only are they supplying base materials for projects like Thames Waters' Lee tunnel, and many other developments, they are also building Homes for Nature.
Chris Leese is Vice President of CEMEX UK's Readymix and Mortars. He's very much aware of the desperate drop in numbers of London's house sparrows. “Many years ago I worked as a volunteer conservationist, so this project is close to my heart. It is hard to believe that the once common house sparrow which we took for granted, has faced such significant decline and is now on the endangered list. Working alongside the RSPB in our London business we hope to help save the sparrow and bring it back to our communities.”
Staff on London's twelve CEMEX readymix concrete plants are helping by installing nest boxes and undertaking bird surveys to see how and if, sparrows are present. The nest boxes will provide shelter, and grass and wild flower seeds will be sown in unused areas of the sites to provide food. It's not just sparrows that will benefit. The wild grass and flowers will support bees, butterflies and and a whole host of other creatures.
Concrete progress [pardon the pun] in bringing nature back to London. But we also need to bring Londoners closer to nature! We all know that nature's in trouble with almost two thirds of all the UK's wildlife in decline. RSPB research has also established that a shocking three quarters of the Capital's young people are disconnected from nature. What that means is that 75% of all 8–12 year old Londoners don't play outdoors in a way that lets them discover the bugs, processes, birds and plants that keep our environment ticking over. Few climb trees and many can't name the common birds or flowers in parks, gardens or school grounds.
Here's one way you can help. Our Big Garden Birdwatch [or Big Schools' Birdwatch if you're a teacher] is approaching. No specialist knowledge or kit are required. Together, we can build a better, healthier and more attractive London.