Chris Bawtree named Biodiversity Champion and Wildfell recognised at CIRIA Awards

Ground Control Nature Recovery Director Chris Bawtree has been recognised for his commitment to biodiversity and nature recovery, winning the Biodiversity Champion Award: Established Professional at the 2026 CIRIA Biodiversity Challenge Awards.

Announced at the awards ceremony on 6th November 2026, the accolade recognises Chris’s work to deliver meaningful, measurable improvements for nature and champion biodiversity across Ground Control and the wider industry.

The BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards celebrate projects, organisations and people improving biodiversity across the built environment. They recognise nature-based solutions, long-term biodiversity improvements and collaboration that goes beyond standard practice and compliance, helping to create places where both nature and people can thrive.

Chris was recognised for his commitment to biodiversity and nature recovery, including his leadership of Ground Control’s habitat banks at Wildfell and Devana. His work is helping to create and restore thriving habitats, deliver high-integrity Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units and connect colleagues, clients and local communities with nature through hands-on conservation.

The award celebrates Chris’s ongoing contribution to putting biodiversity at the heart of land management and delivering lasting, measurable benefits for nature.

Chris Bawtree, Nature Recovery Director, shared:

Winning this award is a real honour and reflects something I care deeply about: creating more space for nature to recover and thrive. Through our work at Wildfell, Devana and beyond, we have an opportunity to deliver genuine, measurable improvements for biodiversity and demonstrate what long-term nature recovery can achieve.

I’m incredibly proud of what we’re building at Ground Control and of the people helping turn that ambition for nature into meaningful action on the ground.

Further recognition for Ground Control

Ground Control’s 296-acre Wildfell nature recovery site and habitat bank was also shortlisted and highly commended for the Biodiversity Feature Award: Nature Recovery.

Wildfell brings together a rich mosaic of habitats, including grasslands, woodlands, wildflower meadows and wetlands. The site is designed to support long-term nature recovery while providing high-integrity BNG units and creating more space for biodiversity to thrive.