Working with the municipality of Texas City, in the USA, BP has helped to create a valuable natural and community resource for local residents – setting a benchmark for successful community and corporate partnership in the process.
The partnership came about following the donation of 860-acres of land – situated in an area where heavy industries and refineries dominate the landscape – by the Texas Nature Conservancy to the City.
Twenty-one members made up the steering group. The people who worked on the trail were BP employees and retirees and scouts. This group accepted the challenge to transform a part of the donated land into a nature trail and education area in the coastal wetlands of Texas City. Working closely with contractors and community representatives, they contributed 1,800 volunteer hours to the project – which brought together the equipment, resources and know-how to create a 7600 ft nature trail, complete with elevated boardwalks, kayak launch, restroom and information kiosk. And the whole thing was completed in less than three months.
Thanks to BP, costs of US$125,000 were avoided. However, the biggest success of all is the trail itself. A valuable resource for local residents, the broardwalk has helped enable people to see an unusually diverse selection of bird species – including the Horned Grebe and the Roseatte Spoonbill (both of which have been spotted from the trail) as well as the critically endangered Attwater’s race of Greater Prairie Chicken.