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.
MA22 Mikocki Josh
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
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)
