Quarry Life Award

The 6th edition of the Quarry Life Award is accepting submissions until November 18th, 2024! Showcase your innovative projects that promote biodiversity within our quarries and be recognized for your contributions to environmental stewardship. Whether you're a researcher, student, or industry professional, this competition invites you to help us shape a nature-positive future for our quarries in North America and around the world.

About the 2024 North American Quarry Life Award

To participate in the new edition of the competition, students, researchers, NGOs and local communities can submit a project proposal in the “Research” or “Community” streams.

The research stream focuses on scientific projects that increase knowledge of mining ecology and lead to improved biodiversity, landscape, or water management.
It is open to academics, scientists, experts and NGOs . The available categories in this stream:

• Biodiversity management
• Habitat & species research
• Beyond quarry borders

The community stream focuses on engagement and outreach projects that help the quarry to better connect with its local stakeholders. It will also raise awareness and help to educate about biodiversity in quarries.
This stream is open to everyone – individuals, students, school classes, NGOs and local communities. The available categories in this stream:

• Biodiversity & education
• Connecting quarries and local communities
• Student class project

Project ideas in North America will be selected by a jury of experts from NGOs as well as Heidelberg Materials North American specialists. Participants have until November 18, 2024, to submit project proposals. From January to September of 2025, Heidelberg Materials will likely open participating quarries for the realization of selected projects.

Quarry Life Award (QLA), which launched in 2011, is an international scientific and educational contest run by Heidelberg Materials. The competition takes place every three years at national and international levels with hopes to raise awareness of the organic value of mining sites and to find new ways to enhance them. As a unique flagship initiative in the building materials industry, the Quarry Life Award was first established in 2011 and has since generated over 450 innovative project ideas to promote and protect biodiversity. Over the last five editions, nearly 1,100 participants in more than 100 quarries have investigated how to protect nature and promote a high diversity of local flora and fauna.

The Quarry Life Award increases the scientific understanding of the interaction between nature and quarries. Through the QLA, Heidelberg Materials is able to contribute to global nature conservation goals, raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and bring people closer to nature. The QLA develops new science-based biodiversity recommendations to our sites in order to share them both externally and within our operations.

2021 North American Project Winner

The 2021 QLA winners are Peg Ferm and Kate Ryan. The project is a self-guided Pacific Northwest Native Pollinator Trail on a portion of the High Rocky Quarry site near the city of Monroe, Washington. The loop trail is the first step toward a much larger objective -- eventual reclamation of the High Rock Quarry. The ultimate goal is to expand pollinator plantings throughout the quarry site, while providing public access and education along the way.

"Native Pollinators: Who are these guys and what do they want? | Quarry Life Award"

Past QLA Recipients

2018

First prize went to “The co-existence of a threatened population of grizzly bears with quarry mining in Alberta, Canada"

Second prize went to “Ruling the Roost: Developing Thermally Optimal Roosts to Enhance Microbat Population Biodiversity."

2014

First prize went to “Designing a Geo-Ecology and Education nature trail."

Second prize went to “Biodiversity, Restoration, and Educational Trails on a Reclaimed Rock Quarry"

Third prize went to “Biodiversity at Lehigh: A Community Educational Experience."