In 2013, Ricoh employees (Eco-ninjas) participated in several environmental projects on their site including small mammal trapping, moth surveying, and hosting tours about sustainability measures. They received training from local wildlife groups on tracking mammals and identifying moths. Surveys found evidence of rare shrews and other small mammals. Unexpectedly, a rare Death-Head hawk moth was discovered on site, attracting media attention. Camera traps later confirmed a badger population on the property.

1. Environmental Projects 2013
2013 has been a demanding year for our Eco-ninjas. Working with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and
Shropshire Small mammal group we have been able to learn a lot about our site and its inhabitants;
with training on small mammal trapping, moths and others.
The year kicked off in April with the Mammal tracking training
hosted by Stu Edmonds, chair of the Shropshire Mammal Group
and attended by Ricoh employees; Carl Griffin, Stu Mapp, Ian
Cheshire, Tim Jones, Rob Beech, Tania Willoughby, Alan Gwilt,
Scott Pardoe and Andy Whyle. Stu delivered a presentation
outlining the methods of tracking small mammals and the
benefits of using motion detector cameras. He then took the Eco
ninjas out to look at the West side Hedgerow and along the
Wesley brook to spot some mammals.
This was shortly followed by Global Eco Action Month in May
where the Eco Ninjas focused their attention on Small
mammal trapping once again. This took place on the eastern
hedge near Priorslee Lake in Preparation for the upcoming
SUDs Project in 2014. Many eco ninjas and volunteers from
the Shropshire Mammal Group took part on this wet and cold
day, checking at
least 10 boxes
and finding
evidence of rare
Shrews.
Once the Eco ninjas had been trained they felt confident
enough to conduct their own unaccompanied survey of
site at the end of May. They found evidence of many
small mammals including, yellow neck mice and pygmy
shrews.
In June volunteers gave up their Friday night along with the Shropshire Invertebrate group in order
to survey Moths. A total of 47 moths of many varying breeds were found and identified with the help
of Stephen Mitchell, Lizzie Wright and Tony Jacques of the invertebrate group.
We also played host in November to BESST and SWT by hosting a factory site tour and presentation
showing the measures that Ricoh have put into place in order to protect the local area. In addition to
this Harper Adams Sustainability students visited site in November and received a presentation on
sustainability from a business perspective rather than a land owner/agricultural view point.
In addition to all this, 2013 also contained some unexpected
events. The first of these was the finding of a Death-Head
hawk moth in RPL2 Warehouses. This became headline news
as it’s rarity and “stormtrooper mark” on its back and was
reported by newspapers such as the Daily Mail online and
Shropshire star. In addition to this in December camera traps
were set up after our Eco ninjas noticing some digging marks
on site that were a sign of a Badger Population. The camera
traps proved useful as 2 badgers, a buzzard and a squirrel
were all recorded.