Housebuilding industry can lead the way on biodiversity – NHBC Foundation

A new guide launched today says that biodiversity should be considered at the earliest stages of planning new home developments to encourage wildlife and help reverse habitat decline.

The NHBC Foundation has partnered with the RSPB and Barratt Developments to launch the new report called Biodiversity in new housing developments: creating wildlife-friendly communities. It features guidance on how the housebuilding industry can incorporate green infrastructure into new build homes and enhance and protect biodiversity within developments to help deliver wider public health benefits.

The report comes at a time that climate change and the decline of wildlife are the great challenges of our time which, combined with government demands for greatly increased housing supply, are creating a balancing act which housebuilders and developers must consider in all its aspects. Sustainability, says the report, must be a key consideration in housing developments ensuring a positive impact on wildlife and the adoption of nature-based solutions.

The report suggests:

• Implementing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) which mimic natural processes in managing rainfall through the use of landscape form and vegetation
• Installing roost bricks for bats and designing lighting plans in a bat-friendly way
• Putting in bird nest bricks that …