Christoph Bücheler

Industrial zones

Flourishing life in industrial zones

Would you like to fill your company site with life? That’s a great idea, as naturally designed industrial zones that attract wildlife play an important role in promoting nature in cities. They are places with great potential, as they provide ample space to get creative: Buildings, roofs, forecourts, green spaces - they all provide ways to create flowered areas and habitations and thus to promote biodiversity. Natural company premises are also better embedded into their surroundings. Harness the potential of the redesign for communication; inform your customers and involve all employees. They will be pleased to see the added quality of spending time outside, which will create a valuable social space.

Target species

Dwarf Russian almond

Globe thistle

Italian tree cricket

Sand lizard

Tawny mining bee

Viper’s bugloss or blueweed

Good to know

Ecologically valuable spaces are almost always lower maintenance than their counterparts (a flower meadow can tolerate weeds that would be a problem elsewhere).
Foyers should be appealing to visitors coming in. A natural design is not a contradiction here. Many groundcover plants and flowering shrubs are valuable plants for insects.
A diverse range of brownfields may occur, where even rare wild herbs can grow.
Roof greening has great potential for nature in your company: Water retention, particulate suppression, noise reduction, and a sea of flowers.
Reduce sealed areas to the bare necessities! Parking lots, pathways, and storage areas should be set up as permeable alternatives.

What does the City of Vienna do?

Have you ever thought of roof greening or increasing substrate? The City of Vienna - Environmental Protection department subsidises roof greening up to a maximum of 20,000 euros.
Stadt Wien: Dachbegrünung Förderungsantrag(wien.gv.at)

Green oases can exist even in industrial zones! The City of Vienna - Environmental Protection department awards a prize for them:
Plakette Naturnahe Grünoase der Stadt Wien (wien.gv.at)

What can I do?

Info, tips, instructions, videos, sources, etc.

Internet links have been selected as examples and do not claim to be complete.

Examples

Vibrant traffic spaces as flowered areas

How to promote birds that nest on buildings and bats

Vibrant traffic spaces as flowered areas

Soil sealing cuts animals and plants out of their habitats; and such soils cannot absorb rainwater. This increases surface draining and flood hazards in events of heavy rainfall. In summer, it increases the heat stress on the entire area. Many traffic spaces such as parking lots, courtyards, access ways, driveways, and storage areas need not be sealed at all. If opened and replaced with water-permeable alternatives, the soil can breathe again, low plants will appear, rainwater can be absorbed, and the micro-climate will improve.

The following collection of Internet links was selected as an example and does not claim to be complete.

INFORMATION:

If you have a garden or a terrace, try not to seal these valuable open spaces. Try to find solutions that are permeable to water, such as grass pavers or wood-block paving.
UMG Umweltbüro Grabher: Entsiegelung (naturtipps.at)

How to get active

Unsealed paths

NABU: Tipps für naturnahe Wege im Garten (nabu.de)

Species-rich seepage basin

For larger sealed areas such as parking lots, rainwater seepage must be guaranteed. A greened seepage basin is a great possibility:

Information on how to set up a seepage basin; legal requirements, planting and sowing, care, list of varieties:
Rewisa Netzwerk: Merkblatt Sickermulde (PDF)

Unsealed parking lots

In most cases, parking lots can be installed with water-permeable solutions. Possible solutions are, for instance, gravel or crushed stone coverings, gravel turfs, grass pavers, and lawn lattice stones.

Gravel turfs as parking lots: Information, service, set-up, and maintenance (links also available in English)
BOKU, Projekt Schotterrasen (schotterrasen.at)
Grass pavers as parking lots: Types, use, and prices
Hausbaumagazin: Rasengittersteine (hausbaumagazin.at)

Further browsing :

The ecological parking lot; collection of smart examples from Liechtenstein:
Administration des Eaux et Forêts: Leitfaden naturnahe Anlage von Parkplätzen (PDF)

How to promote birds that nest on buildings and bats

For centuries, birds and bats have been living close to or even under same roof with us. We enjoy their chirps and twitters and admire their daring flight manoeuvres through the urban canyons. This is urban nature at our fingertips. Together, we can make sure it stays this way.

The following collection of Internet links was selected as an example and does not claim to be complete.

Overview and tips:

Vienna-specific overview of buildings as habitats for birds and bats. Further information on species and refurbishment measures:
Stadt Wien: Arten- und Lebensraumschutz an Gebäuden (wien.gv.at)
Overview and further information on wildlife-friendly construction, presentation of relevant species, contact details of experts on the support of wildlife during building refurbishments:
Die Umweltberatung: Wildtierfreundliches Bauen (umweltberatung.at)
Info collection on natural nesting places and nesting boxes on buildings for birds and bats:
Regine Tantau: Die Not der Gebäudebrüter (mauerseglerschutz.wordpress.com)

Expert information materials:

Profound all-round information on species conservation on buildings. Expert information materials for developers, architects, craftsmen and -women, and building owners:
Landratsamt Tübingen: Artenschutz am Haus (artenschutz-am-haus.de)

Instructions:

Video on the construction of a simple wooden bat roost for buildings, plus tips on how to mount it:
NABU: So baust du ein Fledermausquartier (nabu.de)

House Martin special:

Overview of the way of life and promotion of the house martin by advocating tolerance, providing nesting material, and using artificial nests:
Schweizerische Vogelwarte: Hilfe für die Mehlschwalbe (PDF)

Where can I spot animals that nest on buildings?

Take a look at the city map: The breeding places and nesting aids for animals that nest on buildings can be found here:
Stadt Wien: Umweltgut Stadtplan (wien.gv.at)