Why settlements should become biotopes

Employees, lizards, wild bees and co. enjoy this structurally rich, green outdoor design at Weleda's headquarters in Arlesheim. Photo: Nature and Economy Foundation

The trend in spatial development in Switzerland is clear: Since the revised Spatial Planning Act (RPG) of 2014, the Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) has recommended building compact settlements. In this way, urban sprawl can be stopped and valuable green open spaces and agricultural areas can be saved from fragmentation. This is the most important concern for sustainable land use planning. Without near-natural ponds there would be no midwife toad, without wet meadows there would be no grass snake, and without dry stone walls there would be no sand lizard. So it sounds like a goal-oriented consequence: green spaces for nature and settlement areas for people. But where do we stand today, seven years after the paradigm shift in Swiss spatial planning?

Urgent need for action

The Biodiversity Forum of the Swiss Academy of Sciences drew an alarming conclusion a few years ago: The quality, size and connectivity of many habitats are not enough to stop species extinction in Switzerland. As sobering as this news may sound, it hardly surprises us anymore. In 2017, the Federal Office for the Environment also proved in a study that around half of the habitats studied and over a third of the animal and plant life are threatened. Environmental groups predicted that same year that Switzerland would achieve a measly 5 of the 49 biodiversity targets to which it committed in 2002 as a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Of the targets that Switzerland set itself as part of its 2012 biodiversity strategy, it will achieve only one out of 18. Switzerland's biodiversity is in a bad way.

One thing is clear to everyone: the need for action is urgent. This is also the first of the 26 urgent measures that nature conservation organizations called for from the Federal Council in 2017, namely that biodiversity should be promoted through spatial planning.

Legal guidelines and political measures are important. But there is not enough time to wait for them. The facts are clear and action can and must be taken today - with or without laws and regulations.

So how does a property owner, builder or janitor approach this undertaking pragmatically? Today, residential areas often still present themselves with a conventional exterior design that emphasizes orderliness and cleanliness and that dates back to the 1960s. In the process, it is forgotten that such tidy elements are often alien to nature. An intensively fertilized, green lawn looks like a death zone to insects and small animals. Exotic ornamental plants are relatively new phenomena for native birds and bees and provide little food. Robotic lawns are species-killing machines and make survival impossible for hedgehogs and amphibians. Concrete seals soils, retains too much heat in summer, and provides neither shelter nor food for small animals. Sealed surfaces allow rainwater to run directly into canals, decoupling it from the soil. Yet all of these structures are major components of settlements.

Contec's natural roof garden in Uetendorf invites you to slow down. Photo: Nature and Economy Foundation

No separation

To promote biodiversity, more specific habitats are needed, including in settlement areas. On the one hand, it is simply not enough to promote biodiversity only in undeveloped zones, as provided for in the RPG. For another, we need to rethink whether we want to separate settlement areas from natural areas. In view of the extinction of species, we should simply no longer afford this separation. The division into natural and cultural areas is not only outdated, it also makes it impossible to take into account the mutual influence of nature and culture. Even if spatial planning likes to conceal this fact: Settlement areas and natural areas are strongly interwoven and cannot coexist in isolation on a sustainable basis. We must make it a matter of course to regard company areas and housing developments as natural biotopes of people, animals and plants.

Flower meadows in agriculture have declined sharply in the last decade, but they offer a colorful paradise for wild bees and insects. Let's bring them back - to settlements and also to agricultural areas.

Wild perennials are perennial wildflowers and allow small animals to survive. On dry sites, purple loosestrife and yellow-flowering evening primrose bring life and attract pigeon tails and citrine butterflies. Rare and dynamic site conditions in ruderal areas are compatible with gravelly parking lots and railroad tracks, and are home to wild carrots and swallowtail caterpillars. Even small elements help any development become a species-rich habitat.

Lecture:

• Guntern J., Lachat T., Pauli D., Fischer M. (2013): Land requirements for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Switzerland. Forum Biodiversität Schweiz der Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT), Bern.
• FOEN (ed.) 2017: Biodiversitat in der Schweiz: Zustand und Entwicklung. Results of the biodiversity monitoring system, status 2016. Federal Office for the Environment, Bern. Environmental Status No. 1630: 60 pp.

 

Info about nature design

The Nature and Economy Foundation has been promoting nature in urban areas for over twenty years. It awards its nationally recognized label to nature-oriented construction projects and landscaping and supports and accompanies interested parties in the planning and implementation of their nature-oriented outdoor space. Conventional nurseries often lack the know-how and due to a lack of demand they hardly offer a selection of native plants. The foundation advises and connects interested parties with experts in biodiversity and near-natural area design.

Dealing with climate change is also becoming increasingly important for sustainable and future-oriented construction. For this reason, the foundation has recently started offering the certificate with the working title "Certificate for urban nature and climate". This label emphasizes the importance of structurally rich and green areas that store surface water and heat up less. Much can and must be done. The Nature and Economy Foundation provides free advice. Pick up the phone first and then the shovel!

Info: www.naturundwirtschaft.ch

 

The contribution Why settlements should become biotopes first appeared on Environment perspectives.