Project description

The extraction of bulk raw materials such as limestone, gravel, sand and gypsum involves considerable interference with ecosystems. Nevertheless, quarrying sites often provide valuable habitats for rare animal and plant species. The project aims to conserve and promote biodiversity at quarrying sites in the construction materials industry.

Together with the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, a systematic biodiversity monitoring system is being established that can be applied in the corporate context of the building materials industry. Both classical and modern methods of biodiversity recording will be used. As part of the project, the species inventory of twelve quarrying sites in Germany will be investigated with the aim of recording existing populations, testing suitable monitoring methods and identifying potential for promoting biodiversity, particularly in active quarrying. Accompanying these monitoring activities, Citizen Scientists under the coordination of the NABU Germany record the biodiversity at the sites.

In the course of the project, these results will be further developed with the findings from a comprehensive industry analysis and detailed case studies into a practical biodiversity management concept for companies in the building materials industry.