Plight of the bumblebee and other pollinators

The Government’s launch in June of an urgent review of the crisis facing bees and other pollinators in the UK was heartening news. But in its pledge to introduce a national pollinator strategy, it will be vital that the Government thinks creatively and deploys every weapon in its arsenal to protect pollinators and the essential work they do.

Living walls, green screens and other forms of vertical planting can dramatically boost biodiversity levels in restricted spaces and urban areas because they take up just a fraction of the space required by traditional green areas. With the right selection of plant species, living walls can offer a vital source of nectar for pollinating insects, and provide a network of green corridors that better link built-up areas to the surrounding countryside.

Mobilane’s LivingWall for Waitrose in Bracknell, Berkshire (pictured below) is just one example of a vertical planting scheme created with the specific aim of attracting bees and other wildlife into an urban site. The results have been spectacular – an attractive wall with year-round interest that also supports local biodiversity.

Of course, the Government is right to review the use of pesticides and consider how to properly protect pollinators’ usual habitats like wildflower meadows. Existing government initiatives include 12 new Nature Improvement Areas and the promotion and funding of the sowing of nectar flower mixes on farmland. More drastically, in April the European Union suspended the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides linked to serious harm in bees - despite the opposition of the UK ministers. But the scale of the problem is epic.

In the UK, wild honey bees are nearly extinct, solitary bees are declining in more than half the areas studied and some species of bumblebee have been lost altogether. This trend is repeating worldwide, yet bees and other pollinators fertilise three-quarters of global food crops - their monetary value to world agriculture runs into billion of pounds.

Experts are calling on the Government to enhance the food and nesting sites available to pollinators including flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and beetles, as well as bees. Put simply, we need to plant more flowering plants; the UK alone lost a whopping 97% of our flower-rich meadows between 1930 and 1984.

The challenge is huge but wherever there is bare wall surface, we have an opportunity to help create a habitat and food for pollinators. Each and every additional square meter of flowering vertical planting helps to restore the odds in bees’ favour and this benefits us all.

Mobilane's LivingWall for Waitrose in Bracknell, Berkshire

Bumblebee visiting the LivingWall

Mobilane CPD seminars with DCE

This year we are again running a host of seminars in conjunction with DCE at a number of locations around the country, details of which and the joining instructions can be found in the links below.

Our seminars will be focusing on building a greener environment, focusing on how our products can help to create environments that are more environmentally friendly from installation. As all of our products are installed fully grown their impact on the environment starts from installation.

As focus is turning to air pollution and ways in which to reduce it in a number of cities across the country, and indeed the world, installing products that help to improve the air quality is something a number of councils are starting to look at. With our green screens being a fine example of a way in which to easily reduce the number of air pollutants, namely PM10s and PM2.5 which are absorbed by such products.

It has been proven that greening up the built up environment has a positive effect on communities thanks to the multitude of health benefits.  Introducing green spaces into inner city areas helps to reduce the temperature of the localised area as well as helping to increase biodiversity and help to make it more aesthetically pleasing. It can be used to help prevent graffiti thus making the area more inviting and welcoming.

More recently we have introduced the Living Hoardings product which is being leased out to construction companies. The Living Hoardings cover existing wooden hoardings to help companies give back to the surrounding area by the benefits of the living hoardings such as absorbing much of the dust particles in the air that are increased surrounding a construction site as well as to help keep the site looking more aesthetically pleasing as they work and, as previously mentioned as a graffiti preventative. These Living Hoardings are being leased so that they can be maintained appropriately so that when the need comes to take the hoardings down, they can be dismantled and redeployed elsewhere.

To find out more details of this and to hear more about the products that we sell and all of their uses, come and join one of the CPD sessions. Follow the links below to find out further details on the joining instructions. Alternatively contact us direct through the website at www.mobilane.co.uk or via phone on 07711 895261

Leedsregistration link (18th September 2013)

Chorleyregistration link (26th November 2013)

2013 'A Year of Air'

Europe – in particular the European Union – is very much in the news at the moment. David Cameron stated earlier this week on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he is looking to seek a ‘fresh settlement’ with Europe and is due to make a much-anticipated speech on the issue on Friday. 

Whatever your views on Britain’s involvement with Europe, 2013 looks like it will be an important year when it comes to the formulation of EU air pollution policy. This year is the EU’s Year of Air. For those unfamiliar with this initiative, it is a time when EU air pollution policy will be revised.

With a recent survey by Eurobarometer, the EU’s public opinion poll analysts informing us that the majority of EU citizens do not think their governments do enough to tackle harmful pollutants, now is a good a time as any to join together and push for appropriate legislation to be put in place across the entire region to create standards that will drastically reduce the level of pollutants in the air and so decrease the public health consequences.

Only last year the EU ruled that the UK is already in breach of its air quality directive and that 16 areas of the UK will not meet the legal NO2 limits by 2015.  But what is government putting in place to help resolve this?

Introducing more greenery into the inner city areas where the PM10 and other pollutant levels are at their highest is a quick and easy step to begin improving air quality. Encouragingly, a number of local councils and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, are beginning the process of introducing living walls and green screens in order to absorb pollutants. 

Why use living walls and green screens? Well, planting trees is all very well, however time is needed for them to establish themselves in their new home and grow.  Green screens, such as ours, are a more convenient choice as they can begin to work on reducing the levels immediately. We have seen a growth in interest for these and now even sell screens that are as high as 3 meters. 

Local authorities should be held more responsible and be given further support in reducing the air pollutants in their areas. With some co-ordinated thinking, hopefully the EU’s Year of Air can help them achieve this – for the sake of everyone’s lungs.

Work with researchers and clients undertaken to highlight benefits of welI designed green spaces

We have started a pioneering partnership with academics from Staffordshire University which we believe will help both our existing and future customers better understand how well-managed green planted spaces can enhance wellbeing and help to solve social and environmental problems.

From improving mental health and reducing crime to improving air quality, the issues that the installation of a well-designed green space can resolve are diverse. In order to put these benefits on a more scientific footing, we, along with Staffordshire University, are asking clients – whether from the private or public sector – to come up with suggestions of what areas they would like investigating. Scientists from the university will then work with the client and us to research the precise benefits that these intelligently designed green spaces can bring to a particular area, for example building insulation, employee attendance rates or an improvement in general human well-being.

Clients will then have some scientific data that will enable them to fully grasp the problems that green spaces can help them solve.

Research by Staffordshire University is already under way and scientists are conducting a study which is investigating how successfully carefully designed green spaces influence biodiversity, improve building insulation and capture microscopic pollutants, thereby improving air quality and human health.

The current research being completed at Staffordshire University will help to provide more information on how pollutants known as PM10s – particulate matter that is less than 10 microns in diameter – are absorbed by plants. The reduction of PM10 levels is a focus of policy for the Department for Transport and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The three-year research study, which is in its final year, is being carried out by PhD student under the supervision of two Professors at the University.  A variety of sophisticated scientific techniques and instruments are being used to understand the nature of a green space’s interaction with particulate matter, including an environmental scanning electron microscope, which is used to establish the size of particles that are trapped by plants. Once complete, the research is due to be published in a number of international peer-reviewed journals.

Through an on-going partnership with the university, we hope we will bring similar scientific rigour to research into the other benefits of carefully planned and maintained green spaces.

GUEST BLOG: Sustainable Design – Looking Towards the Future

Today we are featuring a guest blog from Lynda Smith of Denovo Design, an architectural practice based in Liverpool.

Here at Denovo design we have had an ongoing commitment to sustainable design over a number of years, and so were thrilled when in April 2012 this was formally endorsed with an NQA of ‘Sustainability Assessed’ accreditation.

 We view sustainability in its widest sense, with the three main drivers, Planet; People and Prosperity being integral to our design process.  Future-proofing the build by specification of durable and environmentally friendly products and technologies, along with interaction at all stages with a host of Stakeholders, before, during and after the build process is, therefore, crucial.

 Indeed, development of good partnerships is the very essence of sustainable design, and helps to contribute to the positive transferability of not only the environmental products, but also best practice in terms of neighbourhood in the short term, and more importantly in the long term - strengthening community backbone by encouraging social interaction.

 At our recently completed affordable housing project at Halton View for Halton Housing Trust, collaboration began even before inception with local resident and school children, and with families and Occupational Therapists, who advised on the specification of the bespoke bungalows with specialist disabled provision. 

 Such relationships are critical to the evolution of the design and to maximize its lasting effectiveness. At the end of the day, architecture is about people.

 We were therefore delighted to have an opportunity to work again on a social housing project with Mobilane, fellow like-minded professionals, sustainable champions, and suppliers of green ivy screens and living walls.

 Landscaping and ‘greening up’ of the development was a key element of the design concept, providing an uplifting aesthetic, beneficial to social health, and also providing essential ecological habitat. A first for Denovo was also the creation of a communal allotment to be managed by local school children, creating the opportunity for them to learn about healthy living and eating from an early age.

 It was fitting that a development with such environmental credentials should be showcased with a sizeable 180cm high green ivy wall, which, as well as acting as an attractive anti-vandal boundary for the two bespoke bungalows, spectacularly spans the main access to the site, making a strong environmental statement to residents and visitors alike.

 The ivy, as well as being low maintenance is also effective in absorbing harmful microscopic particles generated by vehicular traffic, and is therefore also valuable in terms of helping to combat pollution, especially in urban areas.

 The green screens, therefore, tick all the boxes ecologically, environmentally and sustainably, and contribute towards the points for the 'Code for Sustainable Homes'.

 It seems there can be no other way but onwards and upwards.....and, of course in growth terms ... outwards!

Denovo Design Limited, 89 Wood Street. Liverpool, L1 4NU   T: 0151 708 4999   F:  0151 708 5335
Follow Denovo on Twitter @DenovoDL

'The Green Organisation Built Environment and Architectural Heritage' Award-Winning Practice 2006-2012