Getting the most biodiversity bang for your buck
December 09, 2020RSK Wilding Managing Director Steph Wray has spoken to Construction Index about how rewilding can help developers and housebuilders meet the conditions of the Environment Bill, which is due to pass into law in January 2021.
Although the Bill will prove challenging for developers, who must deliver a 10% biodiversity net gain on their sites, βthe increasing need for biodiversity doesnβt have to become a problem for the construction sector,β Steph says.
One way in which to deliver this biodiversity requirement, suggests Steph, is through rewilding. The newly established RSK Wilding aims to help businesses do just that: to βoffset their carbon emissions and ecological impacts while helping to reverse decades of environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and climate impacts”. Rewilding can also help developers to think further than simply balancing a carbon equation: to delivering environmental net gain and ensuring that their project is sustainable.
Rewilding is not necessarily what you might first envision. “[It] isn’t just about bringing back wolves and beavers,” explains Steph. “What we’re really talking about is not imposing a particular direction on the development but letting natural ecological processes take over and for the community of plant, insect and bird life to develop naturallyβ.
Rewilded land, continues Steph, is also beneficial to the UK public: through cleaner air, cleaner water and through less flooding in residential areas if rewilded areas are used as a natural flood space. Developers should consider the multiple land uses available when purchasing land going forward: βIf I were a house-builder I might be looking now at adding into my landbank not just land that I think is viable to build houses on, but also land that I think is marginal and I might want to do some of these other things on and offset my impacts,” she adds. By doing this, developers can adopt mitigation measures that are local to their site, ideally in the same county, and thus achieve true environmental new gain.
Although biodiversity awareness and legislation is increasing, this does not have to be bad news for house-builders. Even discovering a protected species, for example the great-crested newt, on-site does not necessarily put an end to, or significantly delay, a development. You can pay for offsetting and for suitable pond habitats to be created elsewhere and for those newts to be moved.
“I think, once we get used to it and contractors are familiar with it, they’re going to get the idea of how to get the most biodiversity bang for their buck,” Steph concludes.
You can read the article in full in the October/November 2020 issue of Construction Index pp.33-39.
π€ Do you ever wonder what COP15 really is and why does it matter to you and your business?
π Dr Stephanie Wray, RSK Groupβs Chief Sustainability Officer and Managing Director of Nature Positive, gives us a clear explanation about why it is essential for the business community to understand the opportunity that is COP15.
Read more in our bio!
#COP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Environment #Sustainability #NetZero
πΈ #selfiesonsite π€³
Some great pictures from the team at @centara_ltd out on-site surveying with a laser scanner.
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities π www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #survey
π€ @facaderemedialconsultants' Managing Director has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to highlight concerns around new regulations such as the Building Safety Act 2022 and the developersβ pledge β Mr Goveβs bid to reset building safety in England.
Find out what he requested in our bio!
#Housing #Building #Construction #Safety #Home #Development
π COP15, the upcoming UN biodiversity summit, aims to set out a plan for how countries will work together to achieve a nature-positive world by 2030.
π€Our panel of experts will debate:
β key discussion points highlighted so far during COP15
β progress made towards a robust nature-positive action plan
β what living in harmony with nature looks like for future generations
β how living in harmony with nature can look different around the world.
π‘ Join the COP conversation as RSK reports live from COP15!
Register for our free webinar in our bio!
#RoutetoCOP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Sustainability #COP15 #Sustainable
π§ Actively restoring rivers by reinstating natural river processes will play a vital role in helping offset the global freshwater biodiversity crisis.
π‘ In this insight, Dr Hamish Moir and Peter Downs from @cbec_eco_engineering_uk, an RSK company, explore how sustainable approaches to river management can help protect us from flooding and droughts.
Read more in our bio!
#Biodiversity #Climate #Water #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Floods #Droughts
πΈ #selfiesonsite π€³
Jiano Pulickal from @structuralsoils took Bertie Bear around the site for the day!
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities π www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #construction
π Grace Kassimoto is the only acoustic specialist from and working in East Africa.
π In our latest #ADayInTheLife, she discusses how she is leading the way for women in a traditionally male-dominated industry and what she enjoys most about her role.
Read her story in our bio!
#Acoustics #Environment #WomenInStem #Engineering #Leadership #Africa
π’ We are proud to sponsor the #GreenEnergyAwards 2022, an event organized by Scottish Renewables
π This ceremony aims to recognise the inspirational organisations, people and projects going above and beyond to make a real difference to the health, wealth, and wellbeing of Scotland
We can't wait to see you there!
π
1st December 2022
π Edinburgh
#RenewableEnergy #Renewables #Scotland #Energy #GreenEnergy #Awards
πΈ #selfiesonsite π€³
Amazing pictures from @crcivils taken on-site at A47 Guyhirn.
Want to join our team? View our latest opportunities π www.rskgroup.com/careers
#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #onsite #aerialshot