Working to make housing developments places where wildlife can live too

Working to make housing developments places where wildlife can live too

(Photo above: Craig Lee and Paul Hebditch from Greener Growth check on a wild flower area at Riduna Park business park in Melton Picture: Ross Bentley)


Ross Bentley | East Anglian Times  

An event held in Suffolk this week sought to encourage house builders and construction firms to factor nature into their plans from the start.

Joannah Metcalfe of Greener Growth presenting at Riduna Park Picture: Ross Bentley


For a long time conservationists have pointed to urban sprawl as a key reason why wildlife is in decline.

Often, new housing is built on the edges of towns and villages, destroying valuable fringe habitats, hedges, scrub and copses - replacing it with concrete and tarmac.

And while developers are obliged to conduct ecological surveys and transfer endangered species to other sites, few new developments make any concessions to the insects, birds and reptiles whose space they have taken in terms of leaving green areas or nest boxes for them to use.

But there are signs that politicians and businesses are finally looking at ways to make housing developments more nature friendly.

READ MORE: Using nature's colours to help buildings blend into Suffolk's best landscapes

Wild flower area at Riduna Park in Melton Picture: Ross Bentley


Biodiversity net gain

In March, Chancellor Philip Hammond used his Spring Statement to confirm that government will use the forthcoming Environment Bill to mandate 'biodiversity net gain' - meaning the delivery of much-needed infrastructure and housing should not be at the expense of vital biodiversity.

Expect to hear more of the term 'biodiversity net gain' in future months - a phrase that requires developers to ensure habitats for wildlife are enhanced and left in a measurably better state than they were pre-development.

According the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), going forward developers will be required to assess the type of habitat and its condition before submitting plans, and then demonstrate how they are improving biodiversity, such as through the creation of green corridors, planting more trees, or forming local nature spaces.

If this approach is applied with conviction in Suffolk, it could make a big difference.

Wild flower area at Riduna Park in Melton Picture: Ross Bentley


More than 62,000 new homes will be needed in the county in the next 20 years to keep up with demand, according to The State of Suffolk 2019 report produced by public health body Healthy Suffolk earlier this year. And it's not just the houses and apartments that will have an impact - green space will also go under the digger to build the accompanying roads, shops, schools and community buildings required to service this substantial heft of bricks and mortar.

Active conservation

Someone who wants to soften the impact of all this built environment is Joannah Metcalfe, founder of Greener Growth, a community interest company, based near Bury St Edmunds, which uses conservation and gardening projects to teach school children about nature and give prison inmates a sense of purpose and wellbeing.

Latterly, Ms Metcalfe and her team have turned their attention to developers and builders who they want to work with to make housing projects as nature friendly as they can be.

With this in mind, the Greener Growth team hosted an information event at Riduna Park business park in Melton near Woodbridge earlier this week and invited landowners and representatives from councils and construction businesses along to hear their rallying cry and to demonstrate how they can work together to improve conditions for wildlife.

Joannah Metcalfe presenting at Riduna Park Picture: Deborah Watson


"Traditionally wildlife conservation and the construction industries have been typically juxtaposed and disconnected," says Ms Metcalfe.

"If certain forms of wildlife are found on a site, such as great crested newts or species of bat, building can be delayed or halted."

READ MORE: Households who use heating oil should be preparing to transition to biofuel, says industry body

Proposition

Verbena cluster at Riduna Park


Greener Growth's proposition has a number of strands. One service they are offering is managing land that developers have purchased for housing but that may then sit untouched for years before the heavy plant moves in.

Often, during this time nature takes over but Greener Growth offers to look after this process, so that natural areas have already been designated before building starts.

This, they say, will smooth the planning process.

Ms Metcalfe said much of this cost can be paid for with savings elsewhere. Earth and waste material removal costs - which are not insignificant at £230 per skip - can be much reduced by recycling, using off-cuts of wood and pallets to make bird boxes and bug hotels, and keeping earth on site for nature zones.

Greener Growth also promotes the planting of wild flowers across developments, as seen at Riduna Park where pollinator-friendly verbena and ox-eye daises have been retro-planted in place of architectural grasses "that do virtually nothing for wildlife" said Ms Metcalfe.

One building firm that has already linked up with Greener Growth is Mixbrow Construction from Needham Market. Operations director Stuart Leech said he hoped to " set the company apart" from other building firms by offering a greener proposition when it comes to tendering for contracts.

Stuart Leech of Mixbrow Construction at Riduna Park Picture: Ross Bentley

But, he added: "To really have an impact, we need to get in early with the architects and designers, [who design developments] as getting anything changed after planning permission has been given can be an issue."

https://www.eadt.co.uk/business/biodiversity-net-gains-in-suffolk-housing-plans-1-6170634

Greener Growth's Director of Conservation Chris Mahon hosts IUCN Regional Conservation Forum, Europe, North & Central Asia, Rotterdam 2019

Greener Growth's Director of Conservation Chris Mahon hosts IUCN Regional Conservation Forum, Europe, North & Central Asia, Rotterdam 2019 #IUCNRCFRotterdam


Chris Mahon | IUCN-UK

More than 20 IUCN Member organisations and Commission Members from the UK attended the RCF in Rotterdam last week. Despite the sombre findings of the recent IPBES report and against a background of dire and unprecedented degradation of the natural world, the meeting was relatively upbeat. Maybe urgency creates focus, certainly the need for it. And as others elsewhere turned their backs on the European Union, here all participants embraced the opportunity as a means of collaborating to tackle the enormous task ahead of us. Not just Europe either as this event engaged beyond, to non-EU countries in West Europe and in North and Central Asia – from Greenland to the Kamkchatka Peninsula, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. Clearly, we need to work together – better.

Inspiration from many speakers but in particular for me the IUCN Acting Director General, Grethel Aguilar, with a message of hope and greater ambition, and an important question for the IUCN family – are you willing to increase the level of risk?

2020 superyear graphic

2020 will be a ‘superyear’ for nature conservation. Here in Rotterdam was the opportunity to pave the way to the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France, in June next year, and influence beyond to the 15th Meeting of the CBD COP in Kunming, China, later in 2020, a critical meeting with the goal of putting in place a post-2020 framework for biodiversity protection.

Road to Marseille graphic
uicn_logo_en

A new draft IUCN programme for 2021-24 was analysed with an opportunity for all to input through workshop sessions and considerable guidance from Members was gathered for the next iteration of the draft. There was much emphasis on this being a programme for all involved in IUCN, not just a workplan for the Secretariat. It will engage us all and will rely on Member’s further participation in its delivery, as will the implementation of the many Motions to the Members Assembly coming forward for the next Congress, including several from UK Members.

The logistical organisation of the event by the National Committee for the Netherlands was an exemplar of what can be achieved by a National Committee, working closely with the Regional Office teams in Brussels and Belgrade, the programme was managed efficiently, accommodating over 400 delegates, a wide variety of speakers, workshop sessions, side events, field trips and a reception at the Natural History Museum.

National Committees gathered on the first morning for a well-received workshop session organised by the Working Group for National Committee Development. A presentation later in the programme dealt with the progress being made with forming an Interregional Committee which is close to reaching its goal of achieving 50% approval from Members, though less than half of Members contacted had responded to the consultation survey.

For more details on the activities and the RCF programme go to:    www.iucn.org/rcf_rotterdam2019  or check out feedback at  #IUCNRCFRotterdam

So, onwards towards the World Conservation Congress in Marseille, 11-19 June 2010, for which plans are well underway, and with a new draft programme for us all to get behind. Act soon to prepare your Motions to the Members Assembly, propose your side events and workshop sessions if you wish to lead them, and get fully engaged in the WCC next year. It’s not likely to be in Europe again for a very long time.

Chris Mahon
Chief Executive, IUCN National Committee UK
Chair, Working Group for National Committee Development Europe, North & Central Asia and IUCN Global Group for National and Regional Committee Development

Greener Growth Presents at the International Union For The Conservation of Nature

Greener Growth Presents at the International Union For The Conservation of Nature (IUCN)


On Wednesday May 2nd, Jo Metcalfe, Founder and Director of Greener Growth gave a presentation at the IUCN's National Committee hosted by the Margaret Pyke Trust and their supporter Stephenson Harwood. The conference was titled "Nature and Human Well-Being - Scoring Common Goals."

According to the press release, the meeting was a "celebratory event to mark the 70th anniversary of the IUCN and the 21st birthday of its National Committee in the UK, gathering people interested in the work of IUCN together to learn more about how some of IUCN's UK members contribute to the delivery of the people-centered Sustainable Development Goals ; CBD Aichi targets; resolutions from the IUCN World Conservation Congress and its Hawaii commitments; the IUCN Programme and the work of IUCN Commissions;  European, regional and UK national plans and strategies."

Managing Director at Chris Mahon Environment, CEO at IUCN National Committee UK and Development Director at World Heritage UK, Chris managed to find time to organise the event while also being Greener Growth's executive director! Great job!

Accompanied by GG co-director Sam (The Van) Hardy, Jo gave an inspiring presentation which was warmly received, not only because the talk was informative but because she made the attendees laugh on more than one occasion.

This is always a bonus!

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