Holistic Biodiversity Management in Construction Materials Industry (GiBBS) Strategies and Measures for Biodiversity Protection in Context of Resource Extraction, project phase 2

The project from the BMBF Research Initiative for the Conservation of Biodiversity (FEdA), which was preceded by a one-year conceptual phase, aimed to preserve and promote biodiversity in the quarrying sites of the building materials industry. The bulk raw materials gravel, sand, clay and gypsum are required for the production of building materials. According to the Federal Environment Agency, at 517 million tons in 2015, they accounted for the lion's share of the 769 million tons of non-renewable raw materials extracted in Germany. Their extraction is associated with considerable interference in ecosystems.

Extraction sites as ecological niches

Nevertheless, extraction sites can provide special ecological niches and thus habitats for pioneer species and specialists that have become rare in Germany, both during operation and after the end of raw material extraction. In the event of the immigration and/or occurrence of such species in extraction sites that were not listed in existing permits, species protection law applies, such as the ban on killing or the protection of breeding and resting sites. This can lead to permits being suspended and companies having to suspend their activities. Many companies avoid this conflict by preventing valuable biotope structures from being created in the first place through so-called “preventive maintenance”.

Biodiversity Management: Systematic Monitoring and Citizen Science Approach

Where natural areas have been irreversibly destroyed by the extraction of raw materials, the project investigated how ecological potential can be promoted during the extraction process. In addition, impulses were to be given for the highest possible quality subsequent use of the extraction sites. “Preventive maintenance” should become unattractive. To achieve this, the project gave the companies a better understanding of how biodiversity develops on their sites. A central component of the biodiversity management developed is therefore systematic monitoring, which can be used to assess the quality of biodiversity-promoting measures. By systematically involving nature observers via the naturgucker.de platform, the project expanded the mix of monitoring methods to include a citizen science approach, thereby promoting the integration of interested citizens into the activities at extraction sites.

Legal framework and voluntary biodiversity management

Surveys in the first phase of this project had shown that companies align their technical requirements for biodiversity management and monitoring primarily with the requirements of the licensing authorities, which in turn vary depending on the federal state. However, companies should not (have to) perceive each extraction site as a new project, but should be able to act with uniform guidelines. However, such uniform management practice across different sites is difficult to implement without adapting the legal framework. Together with companies extracting raw materials and their associations as well as environmental authorities and nature conservation associations, issues relating to the standardization of requirements for companies and good practice in biodiversity management in the building materials industry were discussed and agreed. The result is a handbook that supports companies in the introduction of voluntary, holistic biodiversity management.
 

Further materials:

• Project flyer (pdf 0.7 MB) (DE)
• Article “Comparing eDNA and Transect Methods for Aquatic Biodiversity Assessment in Lakes and Ponds” in Molecular Ecology Resources, 25 (3)
• Article “Environmental DNA supports importance of heterogeneous pond landscapes for arthropod diversity conservation” in Ecosphere, 16 (2)