CRF and the Environment

CRF has drafted an Environmental Policy built on the fundamental principles outlined in Canon Group’s Environmental Charter. It guides the way CRF operates in Europe and the impact it has on the environment and the community.

CRF BIRDS Project

CRF started the "Biodiversity Improvement on R&D Site" (BIRDS) Project in 2011 in order to preserve biodiversity through sustainable site management as well as to raise collaborators' awareness of the environment.

CRF promotes the preservation of biodiversity, including wild birds, in partnership with the LPO which is the national NGO and official partner of BirdLife International in France. CRF is certified "Refuges LPO"© because it commits to set up the necessary conditions to protect and welcome the wild fauna and flora by respecting the Charter of the Refuges LPO©, this since 2011 and until 2020. This partnership will be renewed in 2021 for 5 years.

On LPO advice, several actions have been realised, such as the installation of feeding tray, nest boxes, shelters for hedgehogs and snakes, plantation of a conservatory orchard, creation of annual cutting pasture and appropriation of the green area by CRF members.

Conservatory orchard is constituted of local tree species, such as apple and pear trees. At the beginning, in 2011, 20 trees have been planted (11 apple trees, 2 pear trees, 4 plum trees and 3 peach trees), now the conservatory orchard is composed of 37 trees:

• 19 apple trees
• 7 pear trees
• 5 plum trees
• 4 peach trees
• 2 cherry trees

By its nature, BIRDS project presents environmental benefits in term of preservation of natural resources as well as biodiversity. These benefits are measured by the difference between the initial naturalist inventory realised in 2011 and the second one realised in 2015 by an expert of the LPO. For more details about the inventories, see Inventories.