Why Design for Biodiversity?
Apart from climate change, urban regeneration poses the greatest challenge to the conservation of London's natural environment.
It also offers an opportunity to forward sustainable development in the region.
London's wildlife depends not only on natural green spaces, but also on the built fabric of the city: the homes, offices, factories, warehouses, wharves and the spaces in and around them. Indeed, some species are almost wholly confined to the habitat provided by built structures, or spend a significant amount of their lives in, on or around them. Examples include bats, swifts, peregrine falcons, jumping zebra spiders, and maidenhair spleenwort. It is important that the management of the existing built environment in London takes account of wildlife, and that new developments are built with biodiversity in mind.
Although new development should avoid building on or damaging important sites or populations of species as a first principle, biodiversity can be incorporated into development through wildlife-friendly landscapes, installation of sustainable urban drainage schemes (SuDS), and features such as green walls, balconies and roofs, and nesting and roosting spaces. This is 'Design for Biodiversity'.
Designing for biodiversity can, if undertaken in a sympathetic manner, bring about benefits to wildlife. It can also offer a number of other benefits to developers such as:
Many developers, architects, designers and planners are beginning to recognise the importance of the environmental agenda to their work, integrating environmentally sensitive approaches into their development and regeneration activities. Design for Biodiversity promotes the ecological function of a built structure and environs in its local context. This requires not only the consideration of how a built structure can minimise any adverse impact upon the local ecology, but also a consideration of whether the built structure or its landscaped environment can deliver any wider ecological benefits or enhancements.
Designing for biodiversity can also help to address wider environmental and sustainability issues and agendas:
Apart from climate change, urban regeneration poses the greatest challenge to the conservation of London's natural environment.
It also offers an opportunity to forward sustainable development in the region.
London's wildlife depends not only on natural green spaces, but also on the built fabric of the city: the homes, offices, factories, warehouses, wharves and the spaces in and around them. Indeed, some species are almost wholly confined to the habitat provided by built structures, or spend a significant amount of their lives in, on or around them. Examples include bats, swifts, peregrine falcons, jumping zebra spiders, and maidenhair spleenwort. It is important that the management of the existing built environment in London takes account of wildlife, and that new developments are built with biodiversity in mind.
Although new development should avoid building on or damaging important sites or populations of species as a first principle, biodiversity can be incorporated into development through wildlife-friendly landscapes, installation of sustainable urban drainage schemes (SuDS), and features such as green walls, balconies and roofs, and nesting and roosting spaces. This is 'Design for Biodiversity'.
Designing for biodiversity can, if undertaken in a sympathetic manner, bring about benefits to wildlife. It can also offer a number of other benefits to developers such as:
- Offering developers the chance to secure planning approval;
- Engaging the support of local communities;
- Demonstrating corporate social and environmental responsibility, and achieve a unique selling point for development;
- In some cases, there may be financial savings compared with a traditional landscaping approach;
- Users and occupiers of buildings can be provided with animated or diverse landscapes, and may enjoy the environmental benefits provided by reduced stormwater run-off, shading, insulation or 'natural air-conditioning'; and
- Wildlife benefits from having features and habitats that are intentional rather than incidental to the design of a space
Many developers, architects, designers and planners are beginning to recognise the importance of the environmental agenda to their work, integrating environmentally sensitive approaches into their development and regeneration activities. Design for Biodiversity promotes the ecological function of a built structure and environs in its local context. This requires not only the consideration of how a built structure can minimise any adverse impact upon the local ecology, but also a consideration of whether the built structure or its landscaped environment can deliver any wider ecological benefits or enhancements.
Designing for biodiversity can also help to address wider environmental and sustainability issues and agendas:
- Not only can biodiversity features themselves provide wider environmental benefits, but the incorporation of such features has an awareness raising role that can promote a more comprehensively sustainable approach to development and regeneration.
- Considering biodiversity can provide a powerful driver for environmental and sustainable design.
To download a copy of the Design for Biodiversity brochure, please click here.