Enhancing biodiversity

Today a lot of habitats and species are endangered due to a growing human population using natural resources in an irresponsible way. NCC:s quarries and gravel pits, with their exposed surfaces of sand, gravel or rock, offer an attractive environment for many species that are displaced when dense vegetation establishes. In those sites, the soil is normally poor in nutrients and different parts are often exceptionally sunlit or shady. Many flowering herbs are thriving in these kinds of grasslands.

Within a relatively small operational area that is disrupted continuously, like the quarry or gravel pit, the natural environments are often more varied than in the pristine neighboring area. This makes our sites truly unique and creates opportunities to benefit biodiversity and species both during operation and when rehabilitating. Make a conscious choice and use aggregates from a sustainable site bursting with biological life.

NCC has developed a common method to implement solutions to maintain and promote biodiversity in quarries and gravel pits. We call it NCC Kielo- Our living site.

Here you can read more stories about biodiversity related to our sites throughout the Nordics.

NCC has provided gravel to create new salmon spawning areas in Espedalselva in the south-west of Norway. The project was so effective that it has now resulted in a written handbook.

Read more in Finnish at NCC.fi

In Espoo, NCC built a Pollinator bar and a meadow to Ekomo's modern Waste Recycling Area in 2019, together with the area's other circulation economy operators. This biodiversity area is in the immediate vicinity of the NCC’s Stone Material area. In addition to meadow flowers and nesting material, the area is being tested for stone ash, which is hoped to inhibit the growth of invasive species while providing a good breeding ground for meadow flowers. Experimentally, stone ash was applied to three different zones at different thicknesses of 10 to 30 cm. The area also has a drier and more rugged and moist section. A large number of different yellow, white, red and blue meadow flowers were planted. For pollinators there are also now many strains with drilled holes and other nesting materials at the meadow.