Bombay Sapphire Distillery

About the Program
Bombay Sapphire Distillery is a recently restored distillery complex on the Test River in Hampshire, England, which consists of 23 renovated brick buildings on a large, two-hectare campus.  Although many of the buildings were in disrepair prior to the renovation, some served as roosting sites and hibernacula for a wide variety of locally important bats. The section of the River Test  flowing through the distillery had also been heavily modified and channelized. As part of the site's ultimate restoration, a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was created in 2020. This resulted in a number of construction elements being incorporated into the restored buildings intended to support local bat populations and number of "bat houses" being installed throughout the complex. Additionally, the river channel within the site was restored to a more natural condition and a program was developed to control invasivesplants.

Practices and Impacts

• As part of the restoration process, various brick building were re-designed in ways intended to support local bat populations that had colonized the site over time. Areas for roosting, hibernacula and bat houses were strategically placed around the complex. Annual surveys are conducted to determine both species present and numbers of individuals and their use of constructed roosting sites.
• The section of the River Test running through the site was also restored. The concrete embankments were removed and a more natural channel was created. Embankments were re-vegetated with native plants and metal coverings over parts of the channel were removed. Fish and eel passages were also installed to promote the free passage of migrating aquatic life through the site. Water quality and its impact on biodiversity are measured primarily with the use of Indices of Biotic Integrity, which involves using the diversity of the invertebrate community to make inferences about site and water quality. Monitoring also includes noting the presence of fish, aquatic plants and related wildlife. 
• A program was developed to identify and remove four species of invasive plants found on-site. Species presence is noted throughout the year, and subsequently in July, plants are physically removed and their locations mapped for later reference.