Vattenfall has outlined measures it is taking to achieve company-wide biodiversity goals by 2025, including a catalogue of principles to follow.
The Swedish energy company has set a target of five biodiversity-enhancing pilot projects over the next coming year and by 2025 to have biodiversity features at all its offices.
Vattenfall vice president of real estate and facility management Helge Rugor: “With this catalogue, we can get inspiration to fulfil our biodiversity targets that is part of our climate smarter office plan and strategy for reducing our climate footprint.”
Vattenfall vice president of environment Helle Herk-Hansen (pictured) said: “We want to trigger even more ideas by sharing the catalogue. The more people who are inspired, the better.
“We have looked at the obvious as well as the special initiatives, and it is always important to adapt any initiative to the local area.”
The catalogue contains advice on the principles of biodiversity, such as a call to use native plants, avoid invasive species, take advantage of local water sources, use flowering and fruit-bearing trees and bushes, minimise hard surfaces, point outdoor light sources downwards so as not to illuminate trees where birds, bats and insects would otherwise be roosting.
It also includes concrete advice on how to create habitats such as meadows, ponds, streams, open sandy areas, wooded pastures, community gardens, green walls and roof meadows.
The advice covers small-scale and local measures to promote biodiversity which can be seen as complementary to other more large-scale initiatives that are ongoing in Vattenfall, such as using bubble curtains at sea when driving foundations into the seabed for offshore wind farms in order to protect marine mammals.
Herk-Hansen said: “In Sweden, Vattenfall has, for instance, created voluntary protected areas on land that we own and where there are so-called red-listed species that are distinctive to Swedish nature.
“For these places, we have prepared inventories together with local authorities and NGOs and developed protection maintenance plans.
“One of these locations is found in Alvkarleby next to our research and development facility.
“The protected area opened two years ago, and it is an area rich in fascinating and sometimes not commonly found flora, for instance rare orchids.
“In this area, we are investing a lot of efforts in informing visitors about the area’s high biodiversity values.
“We have placed information signs at both ends of the walk that goes through the area and visitors are guided by illustrated signs where the interesting plants can be enjoyed.”
In Germany, Vattenfall has created an environmental foundation that has helped re-establish a small river and the planting of trees that promote special species.
Herk-Hansen added: “Sharing this catalogue of ideas and some insight into our biodiversity work is one of our contributions to supporting biodiversity, and we encourage the readers to pass it on to others.”