Regenerating our natural world

Nature is being neglected and destroyed. Habitats are under threat. UK wildlife is living on the precipice of extinction. There’s never been a greater need to work with nature and to regenerate ecosystems.

When nurtured and protected, riverways, coasts and canals host some of the most ecologically rich habitats in the world.

That’s why we make it our mission to protect and nurture them.

Life, where land meets water

These extraordinary areas even give us protection against floods, droughts and pollution.

At Land + Water, we are committed to regenerative thinking, embedding circular economy principles into our everyday business practices. When evaluating a project, we carefully consider the best solution for our client, nature, and society simultaneously, ensuring a balanced and holistic approach.

Throughout our history, we have consistently challenged convention – whether in construction materials, methodologies, stakeholder engagement, or overcoming regulatory barriers. Our aim is always to leave a positive legacy, using our experiences to continuously refine and improve the way we work.We have set ourselves the ambitious goal of becoming the UK’s first regenerative contractor.

To demonstrate the impact of our work, we utilise innovative technologies that track our social value contributions in real time and measure the regeneration of nature during and after our projects. We are developing a suite of AI and digital models to record and assess the positive interventions we deliver.

Saltmarsh Restoration

Habitat regeneration sits at the heart of our purpose. We’re working with the Crown Estate, Lymington Harbour Commissioners and Chichester Harbour Conservancy on innovative techniques for saltmarsh recovery.

Saltmarsh and intertidal habitats support the life cycles of around 80% of marine species in UK waters, making this work vital for protecting our coastlines. Climate change threatens these habitats, as only small changes in mean sea level have catastrophic effects on the plant species that thrive in these areas. Rather than dumping dredged sediment at sea, we use it to rebuild saltmarshes which support habitat regeneration. We’ve been developing a three-year strategy with the Crown Estate to scale up this approach.

Rainham Marshes

We’ve been reusing waste soils and dredgings to create and regenerate habitats. We’re using waste to form a new habitat at London’s largest-ever nature recovery project, The Rainham Marshes Habitat Creation Scheme.

Once a failing Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the marshes are being rebuilt alongside partners, the Port of London Authority, Natural England and the RSPB, using waste soils to turn wasteland into beautiful and much-needed wildlife havens. The silt lagoons at Rainham have long attracted wetland birds and other wildlife. The site covers 152 hectares and has a capacity of over 1.24 million cubic metres to handle non-hazardous dredged material from the Thames and Medway catchments.

Building on our regenerative thinking, we have created a circular process that uses spoils from some of our other projects, including the Thames Tideway Super Sewer, the Fulham Football Club regeneration, and various projects in and around London. The site complements the well-established neighbouring RSPB site.