33rd Sanctuary Awards celebrate sustainability and conservation achievements across Defence
The annual Ministry of Defence (MOD) Sanctuary Awards were held today, 19 March, recognising the outstanding sustainability and conservation efforts across the MOD in the past year.
The Silver Otter trophy, presented this year to Maj (Ret’d) Nigel Lewis. Guy Salkeld / Crown Copyright.
Watch this year’s Sanctuary Awards Ceremony
Celebrated for over 30 years, the MOD Sanctuary Awards recognise projects that benefit sustainable development, and help to conserve the environment, natural resources and heritage across Defence’s UK and overseas estate.
Among this year’s winners are groundbreaking and innovative projects across Defence that support the MOD’s future sustainability. The prestigious Sustainable Business award was won by the Army Energy Efficiency Incentivisation Award Scheme - a competition that encourages army personnel to reduce their energy consumption. The initiative has saved 11,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to taking 4,000 cars off the road.
In the face of increasing energy costs on the army estate, the project encouraged army personnel to focus on what they can do to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions and save money. Around 100 entries were received from large stations, small units, regulars and reserves, achieving energy savings worth a total of £3.7 million.
This year’s Sanctuary Awards ceremony was held in Portsmouth, where the winners and runners-up were presented with their awards by Rear Admiral Paul Beattie, Director Naval Staff. Senior representatives from across the MOD were in attendance to help celebrate these successes.
This year’s coveted Silver Otter trophy was awarded to Maj (Ret’d) Nigel Lewis, celebrating his outstanding dedication to leading the MOD Owl and Raptor project on Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA), a conservation initiative which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023. The award recognises the best conservation group-led project or individual conservation effort on the MOD estate.
Supported by a small team of enthusiastic volunteers, Nigel’s efforts have helped the conservation of tawny owls, barn owls, little owls and kestrels across SPTA since the 1980s. Over the years, Nigel and his team have erected a total of 336 owl and kestrel nest boxes on SPTA. As well as providing important shelters for the birds, the nest boxes are used to monitor and collect valuable data on Salisbury Plain’s owl and kestrel population.
Richard Brooks, Principal Environmental Manager for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which runs the awards, said:
DIO is committed to being as sustainable and environmentally forward-thinking as possible, supporting efforts to protect and enhance habitats across our diverse estate, reduce emissions and drive down our carbon footprint.
The Sanctuary Awards and Sanctuary Magazine recognise the incredible work being undertaken by MOD personnel, Defence industry suppliers and partnerships with external environmental organisations in stewardship, climate change and sustainability.
Well done to all of the winners and thank you for your contribution to making Defence greener.
This year’s Innovation Award was presented to the Scampton Community and RAF War Graves Heritage Centre project. The project has seen the creation of a sustainable and accessible heritage centre, to commemorate the century-long relationship between the small Lincolnshire village of Scampton and the neighbouring RAF Scampton air base.
As part of the project, adaptions were made to the village’s 14th century church to meet the needs of today’s visitors. New features including an accessible path, accessible toilet, ground-sourced heat pump and kitchen were discreetly installed, in a way that complements the church’s existing architecture.
Dr Alexandra Howe, the MOD’s Deputy Director of Levelling Up, The Union (Climate Change and Sustainability), said:
The standard of this year’s remarkable nominees and award winners shows that Defence has both the ambition and talent needed to drive fundamental change.
I was excited to be part of this year’s award ceremony, and would encourage people from across the force to use these impressive examples as inspiration to build in sustainability.
Defence continues to prioritise sustainability and conservation, and is committed to maintaining the capability of our world-leading Armed Forces whilst working to meet the government’s Net Zero policies.
To browse the full list of Sanctuary Award winners and learn more about the MOD’s sustainable development and conservation activities, you can read the latest issue of Sanctuary Magazine, published by DIO every year following the Sanctuary Awards.