A paradise for species in the quarry?

Our demand for raw materials keeps increasing. The production of gravel, sand, clay, and gypsum has some complex and many irreparable consequences for local ecosystems. Is the only solution available for this a stop to building activities? We merge economy and ecology in the GiBBS* project to see if gypsum quarries can be turned into a paradise for different species.

Researchers, companies, industry and nature conservation organisations, and nature conservation authorities are coming together to promote biodiversity in mining areas in the long term. The different stakeholders meet in a facilitated industry dialogue, discuss, consider, and make decisions.

It is not about discussing whether the production of raw materials in Germany should be stopped or not. It is all about rendering the existing mining areas more environmentally friendly and, above all, considering how we can create habitats with a rich diversity of species in these areas during the mining process and beyond. Quarries can also provide ecological niches and thus habitats for specialised species and offer a basis for biodiversity even while the mining of raw materials is still underway.

We at the LIB analyse biodiversity in mining areas as project partners. Nature conservation ecologist Dr. Vera Zizka collected and documented species from different groups, such as amphibians, reptiles, dragonflies, butterflies, and flying insects – as well as some vegetation – for the LIB at a total of twelve different gravel, sand, quartz sand, limestone, and gypsum mining locations. Her monitoring efforts are handled in cooperation with researchers from the University of Münster and about 60 citizen scientists coordinated by NABU.

Vera Zizka went about her usual work at a gypsum quarry in Oberellenbach, Hesse, removing the insect traps distributed across the entire site from May to September 2023 one at a time. She looked under corrugated metal sheets that provide shelter for reptiles such as slow worms at waterholes. She took note of all finds in detail for the project and analysed them later. She equally recorded sounds in order to identify bird and amphibian species, for example, and to further develop this method of non-invasive biodiversity recording. “We want to use conventional and innovative recording methods side by side to acquire an overview of biodiversity in quarrying sites. One particular focus is on lesser-known groups of organisms in these habitats, such as Hymenoptera and Diptera ones, by using molecular detection methods. We are also investigating how biodiversity patterns are constantly changing and how specific land management can promote biodiversity,” says Vera Zizka.

Annika Kruse, a biologist and biodiversity manager employed at Saint-Gobain Rigips and one of Vera’s team members in this project is charged by her employer with identifying actions taken in the mining areas that improve biodiversity. The industry representative participates in GiBBS and has chosen to have its own areas inspected in the scope of these efforts.

There are no laws that require companies to implement targeted species protection measures during active mining operations at the moment.

“On the contrary, the discovery of a rare species may even result in the business having to be restricted or even closed down. As a result, some companies avoid creating potential habitats such as bodies of water entirely, or they may even fill them in to prevent rare species from settling,” summarises Annika Kruse.

Ein Bagger steht im Steinbruch — The excavator is at a standstill – but a mining area can provide an environment for specialised species to live in even while in operation.

Dr. Vera Zizka mit einer Insektenfalle — Dr Vera Zizka checks one of the insect traps set up at the gypsum quarrying site in Oberellenbach.

As paradoxical as that may sound: The easiest way for companies to comply with legal requirements is preventing the establishment of protected species on their premises in the first place. After all, it is impossible to entirely prevent every risk of disturbing or accidentally killing any protected animals in the active mining area.

“We want to put an end to preventive measures of this kind,” says Anneli Heinrich from the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), the head of GiBBp. While evaluation of the data gathered in the mining area monitoring operations continues, the IÖW conducted a case study with the companies involved in GiBBS in 2023. The findings will form the basis for developing a concept for standardised biodiversity management.

Another positive aspect of mining in Germany is that we source the raw material locally and can now actively work with the industry to make raw material production in Germany more environmentally friendly overall.

This project is going to continue until the end of October 2024. It is to provide companies with tools in the form of a systematic monitoring concept and guidelines for the implementation of biodiversity management, amongst other things. This in turn is going to serve as a basis for systematically recording and promoting biodiversity at quarrying sites in Germany in a standardised manner and as well-integrated as possible. Finally, the study’s results are to provide policymakers with insights to be incorporated into future legislation.

Simply put: Gypsum use

Germany alone consumes about ten million tonnes of gypsum per annum – 40 percent of which is covered by natural gypsum while the remainder is currently still made up of FGD gypsum, a by-product of coal-fired power generation.

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