Member Organisations

Natural England

Natural England exists to conserve and enhance the natural environment, for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people and the economic prosperity that it brings.

Our remit is to ensure sustainable stewardship of the land and sea so that people and nature can thrive. It is our responsibility to see that England's rich natural environment can adapt and survive intact for future generations to enjoy.

Natural England is the government's advisor on the natural environment. We provide practical advice, grounded in science, on how best to safeguard England's natural wealth for the benefit of everyone.

If you would like to know more about our work, please visit our website here

The Natural England Partnership

Natural England, the Rural Development Service and the Landscape, Access and Recreation Division of the Countryside Agency are working in partnership towards Natural England.

Natural England will be a new environmental organisation with the responsibility to conserve and enhance the value and beauty of England’s natural environment, and to promote access, recreation and public well-being for the benefit of today’s and future generations.

Mineral Products Association

Mineral Products Association is the principal trade association for the UK quarrying industry.

Aggregates are among the very essentials of life - as important in their own way as the food from our farms.

But Quarrying is only a temporary land-use and progressive restoration means that sites are effectively "borrowed".

Recognising this, the UK industry aims to adopt a responsible approach to its work and a considerate attitude to wildlife.

It’s all too easy to think of a quarry as a hole in the ground. To find out more, dig a little deeper by visiting our website here.

SAMSA

SAMSA stands for the Silica and Moulding Sands Association, a constituent body of the MPA and a member of the Industrial Minerals Association of Europe.

There are ten companies within SAMSA, most of which also produce aggregates, and we have a great interest and support for wildlife and earth heritage conservation issues. SAMSA represents the producers of industrial silica sand, a product used for a whole variety of purposes such as:

• the manufacture of glass (70% of the make up of glass is silica sand)
• foundry processes including the making of metal casting moulds and cores
• ceramic products from toilets and washbasins to all kinds of pottery
• water filtration systems

Silicon chips, so essential to modern life, are a chemical product made out of silica. And finely ground silica is used in paint, sealants and adhesives.

There is just one UK mine for silica and all the other locations are opencast quarries, which generally have a longer working lifespan than aggregate quarries.

You can find out more about silica sand here.

BMAPA

The British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA) is the trade association for marine aggregate extraction.

It's an industry that works 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year helping to satisfy Britain's needs for construction materials. Our aggregates underpin some of Britain's most glamorous projects - but we also supply the sand and gravel that finds its way into Britain's homes. A significant proportion of Britain's need for aggregates is satisfied from the seabed.

These vital marine resources are growing in importance as a means of sustaining the built environment and, in doing so, they contribute substantially to the quality of our lives. Around 21 per cent of the sand and gravel used in England and Wales is now supplied by the marine aggregates industry. Extraction of marine aggregates involves significantly less than one per cent the UK continental shelf. The industry recognises, nonetheless, that it works in a sensitive environment and accepts its responsibility to operate with care and concern for other users of the sea.