Charting the progress of biodiversity in Europe's quarries

As the first week of COP29 draws to a close, we consider the issue of biodiversity and the cement industry's impact on this important sustainability indicator. This week, CEMBUREAU's 'How quarries provide a home to European endangered species' webinar presented an opportunity to discuss the cement sector's progress in rehabilitating former quarries and increasing biodiversity through the regeneration of flora and fauna in active quarries.

As a starting point, Dr Carolyn Jewell, senior manager of biodiversity and natural resources at CRH, drew the audience's attention to the European Environment Agency's latest assessment of habitats and species in Europe. The moderator stated that the EU protects 1389 animal and plant species as well as 233 habitat types. However, under the EU Habitats Directive, only 15 per cent of habitats and 27 per cent of species have a 'good' conservation status. Indeed, 81 per cent of habitats and 63 per cent of species have a 'poor' or 'bad' conservation status in Europe.

CEMBUREAU has itself been a pioneer of such work, launching its Biodiversity Roadmap in 2022. It offered not only a vision for biodiversity in and around limestone and aggregate quarries but a shared vision of what the cement sector can achieve by 2030. 

Policies and legislation

Policies and legislation have addressed the state of nature in Europe over some 40 years, since the 1979 Birds Directive was adopted. This was soon followed by the 1992 Habitats Directive. Up until now, these two pieces of EU legislation have been the main laws protecting biodiversity in Europe. Recently, however, they were reinforced by the EU Nature Restoration Law of 2024 which aims to restore entire ecosystems, rehabilitating habitats and species across the EU. These policies prohibit deliberate killing as well as protecting nesting sites, especially during breeding periods.

These initiatives have resulted in the creation of 2700 protected sites, some 700,000km² of terrestrial coverage or 18 per cent of the EU territory. Approximately 500 birds and over 1000 non-bird species are now protected, of which many live in limestone quarries. While avoidance of disturbance is always the first objective in the Habitats Directive, Article 16 offers a provision for deviating from articles that protect animals plants and fauna.

From May 2020, the EU has proposed a biodiversity 2030 strategy to improve, protect and restore nature. BS2030 seeks to legally protect 30 per cent of the EU's lands and 30 per cent of its seas. It protects a third of primary and old forests and 30 per cent of species and habitats.

This has been supported by the Nature Restoration Law, adopted in June 2024 by the council and brought into force in August 2024, with targets and sector-specific objectives that will result in 20 per cent of EU land and sea area covered with restoration measures and all ecosystems needing restoration by 2050. This is an area where many quarry restoration projects can get involved.

What is still uncertain is the introduction of biodiversity credits. Przemyslaw Oginski, policy officer for the European Commission, said "The idea of biodiversity credits is gaining traction, with increasing awareness that biodiversity funding should not rely solely on public sources; the private sector is also expected to step up its contributions." However, the methodology remains unknown and greenwashing must be avoided.

'Red Lists'

'Red Lists' are another important resource for biodiversity preservation and restoration. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) makes policies, collects data, creates science tools and develops standards. This year marks the 60th anniversary of its Red List for Threatened Species. The Global Red List covers the extinction list of species and is known as 'the barometer of life'. It currently records 160,000 species and has a goal to record 260,000 species, and reassess 142,000 species, by 2030. Current estimates are that 46,300 species are threatened with extinction. The categories are arranged from those species with least concern, near threatened, vulnerable to endangered and critically endangered. A European Red List and National Red Lists also exist, where perspectives on the same species can vary.

Case studies

To improve biodiversity in its quarries and site locations, the cement industry is working with universities and nature conservation organisations such as The Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu), in Germany. The introduction of water buffalo at Cemex's Immelborn Quarry, Germany, may seem extraordinary, but it has resulted in increased habitats for amphibians, low-land meadows, an inland salt marsh and added a variety of species such as the yellow-bellied toad, warty newt and Eurasian otter. The projects often reflect a long-term commitment to increasing biodiversity and some successful projects have been run for decades, such as Secil's Outão Quarry restoration in Portugal. Set in the middle of a national park, this project is beginning to see positive results.

The success of these projects, and work to improve the collection of data on species, is expected to bring increased funding and a gradual improvement in the biodiversity of species in limestone and aggregate quarries.