{"id":28527,"date":"2020-12-08T17:01:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T17:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=28527"},"modified":"2020-12-08T17:01:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T17:01:19","slug":"living-with-nature-five-wildlife-friendly-construction-innovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=28527","title":{"rendered":"Living with nature: five wildlife-friendly construction innovations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Making developments more accommodating to nature will be crucial if the UK government is to meet its 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution and a selection of wildlife-friendly construction measures could help.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Positive.News<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

Making developments more accommodating to nature will be crucial if the UK government is to meet its 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution. These wildlife-friendly construction measures could help<\/p>\n

Bird-friendly bricks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swifts have made their homes in cracks and crevices of our buildings for thousands of years. But the style of modern construction has helped put populations under pressure. The swift nesting brick, developed by Manthorpe Building Products in conjunction with the RSPB, is a bid to help the birds during the summer when they stay in the UK to raise their young. The bricks feature sheltered tunnel entrances and drainage holes and provide a safe area to allow swifts \u2013 clean and quiet house guests \u2013 to nest.<\/p>\n

Wildflower verges<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the Kingsbrook development in Aylesbury, the RSPB is working with Barratt Developments to set \u2018a new benchmark for wildlife-friendly housing\u2019. Wildflowers feature prominently in plans, including strips of wildflower grassland to help form wildlife corridors and provide food for pollinators. Experts have also developed a \u2018garden plant chooser\u2019 document for residents, recommending plants that are easy to grow and useful to wildlife: for example, campanula, echinacea and marjoram.<\/p>\n

Hedgehog highways<\/strong><\/p>\n

Housebuilders now have to include \u2018hedgehog highways\u2019 in new developments, following a petition organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society in 2019. It means that small holes must be cut in the bases of fences, allowing hedgehogs to move freely between properties. Numbers of hedgehogs \u2013 which frequently top polls as the UK\u2019s favourite animal \u2013 have sharply declined in recent years. They can travel several miles a night in search of food, so space to roam is crucial.<\/p>\n

Bricks for bees<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bee Bricks, by Cornish B Corp Green&Blue, can be used in place of standard bricks in construction, or individually in gardens and green spaces. They contain cast tubes, nesting sites for solitary bees such as red mason and leafcutter bees. \u2018Bee Bricks are slowly appearing on more biodiversity planning guidance documents across the country,\u2019 says Faye Clifton from the company. \u2018We strongly believe that there is no such thing as sustainable development without consideration for biodiversity at the core of the design and decision making process.\u2019<\/p>\n

Amphibian-friendly kerbing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amphibians making their way along our roads naturally follow the line of the kerb as they travel. When they reach a grid? Normally, they fall through into the gully below, where they generally die of starvation. The wildlife kerbs, which have been developed by UK company ACO Technologies, feature a \u2018bypass pocket\u2019 that amphibians can follow safely, avoiding the gully. ACO also makes tunnel, barrier and fencing systems to help protect amphibians and small mammals, as well as products to help birds and bats.<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Making developments more accommodating to nature will be crucial if the UK government is to meet its 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution and a selection of wildlife-friendly construction measures could help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28529,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28527\/revisions\/28529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}