We are in the middle of a housing crisis, not just for people, but for nature. Homes for all kinds of species are being removed, polluted and paved over. But what if we could solve the human and nature housing crises together?
The human housing challenge is acute and if we continue with business as usual, the development of 50,000 new homes needed per year in Ireland by 2040 for our growing populations will threaten nature, which is already under severe stress. A move towards nature-led residential developments could be the solution for humans and nature to thrive together in rapidly developing urban areas.
The Bio-Neighbour project has identified best practice for incorporating and maintaining new nature-led residential developments in Ireland. Bio-Neighbour is a collaboration between the Irish Green Building Council and Trinity College Dublin, supported by the Housing Agency, to investigate how we can have greener and more biodiverse neighbourhoods by building nature into development from the start.
What does housing for nature look like in new developments? Permeable paving can support soil microbes, animals and plants while enabling water to soak through to the soil rather than running off into overloaded storm drains. Green roofs can provide insulation, keeping buildings cooler in summer and warmer in winter, as well as providing resources for pollinators and birds.
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Swales are shallow channels designed to collect and hold stormwater runoff, and are now commonly incorporated into new developments. Swales can provide important areas for nature to take hold and thrive as well as providing adaptation to wetter conditions that are becoming more common due to climate change.
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These are all well-established technologies for using nature to provide solutions that are good for people, biodiversity and the climate.
Although we see increasing use of nature-based solutions in new housing developments, there are barriers to their adoption at a wide scale. In public housing schemes, the provision of blue and green space for residents may be seen as an unnecessary luxury.
However, this leads to severe inequities in the benefits that nature provides. Areas of cities with low socio-economic status often have fewer trees and less access to parks and natural space. This exposes populations to the negative effects of climate change and reduces people’s access to areas that promote physical and mental health.
There is growing evidence that even the sight of green space can promote faster healing and recovery from illness and injury. By not incorporating nature into social housing developments, we are doubling down on inequities in society.
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At the other end of the socio-economic spectrum we see developments with nature-led names incorporating “brook”, “haven” or “field” to indicate a sense of space and luxury. This may be in a development that has built over exactly the natural feature they are highlighting.
The EU Nature Restoration Regulation, which informs our National Restoration Plan, stipulates no net loss of green urban space and tree cover by 2030, with a steady increase in area from 2030.
Large companies must measure and report on their biodiversity impacts under the corporate sustainability reporting directive, which encourages strategies for achieving biodiversity gain in urban developments. Private consumers are demanding higher sustainability standards in new housing. Developers, investors and construction companies are therefore under pressure to build nature into new developments.
The recently published Biodiversity Annual Review by the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) highlights the importance of planning for biodiversity in all new infrastructure developments. The council recognises the importance of nature for helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and helping people to cope with the effects of a changed climate.
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By regulating for at least no further loss of biodiversity in infrastructure developments, Government can help to build the momentum that we need across the construction sector to help to turn around biodiversity loss.
Skills need to be built in nature-literacy across construction, architecture and planning so that ecological considerations are addressed early in the project. New financial mechanisms are needed to fund nature-led development, and clarity is needed on the responsibilities of different parties for managing nature in and around new developments.
If we get it right, then new housing developments will provide many more benefits to society and nature than the bare minimum of having a roof over your head.
Yvonne Buckley is co-director of the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water, professor of zoology at Trinity College Dublin and a CCAC member
