'Green' Buildings - A Place For Wildlife

Buildings define towns and urban areas. While the land that surrounds them is recognised as valuable - or potentially valuable - for wildlife, it is often supposed that buildings themselves are no use for wildlife at all. This is not the case ..

Buildings can be good for wildlife

The 'Biodiversity Action Plan' for the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham explains how vertical and horizontal surfaces can can provide habitats for wildlife:

A wall

"Structures can provide important habitat niches for wildlife, principly for breeding and shelter. Walls often support plants such as mosses, ferns, ivy, which in turn provide nesting and roosting places for birds and bats. The construction and functioning of buildings therefore impact not only on the local community but also on local wildlife.

Roof terraces, balconies and window boxes also have an important role to play in the built environment, helping to break down the dense urban feel and creating a more attractive local environment. They also offer an opporunity for people to interact with the natural environment in their own living space."

Action Plan for buildings

A discussion of the built environment and what can be done to protect and enhance its wildlife value can be found on the Biodiversity Action Plan for Hammermsith (lower left).

There is also a Habitat Action Plan (HAP) for 'vertical habitats' in the Westminster Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). This covers building and other structures.

An unusual site

In Hanwell, in the borough of Ealing, the value of walls has been recognised in an unusual way. One particular wall - damp and somewhat eroded - was spotted by a local naturalist who saw it had a remarkable assemblage of ferns. This little wall has now been designated as a 'Site For Nature Conservation' in the borough's 'Unitary Development Plan'. The firm that owns it - a small printing firm - are now intrigued and rather proud of their wall. They are now much less likely to damage or demolish it than they would have been. This shows that often nothing elaborate or expensive is needed to protect biodiversity. More often than not, all that is needed is a modicum of concern and a determination to do something about it.

Characteristic plants and animals

There are a number of plants and animals which are characteristic of the built environment. A number of these - usually the more obvious or 'popular' species - have been selected as 'flagship species'. For the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, these are:

Black redstart

• house sparrow
• blackbird
• robin
• wren
• black redstart
• frog
• stag beetle
• ivy (climbing)
• hedgehog

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