Research: 3 ways to boost biodiversity at your place of work

Article written by Tim Mooney

From meeting regulations to boosting morale, a workplace in touch with nature can bring a range of benefits to your organisation. Here are three ways you can boost biodiversity at your place of work.

Green walls and roof gardens

Green walls, also known as plant or living walls, are vertical structures containing plants and greenery. They can be installed indoors, or on the outside of a building. The vegetation used on the green wall and the place it is installed will determine its many benefits.

Indoor green walls can improve air quality through filtering and purification and by producing oxygen. They have also been known to improve indoor humidity by using transpiration, whereby plants naturally absorb water through their roots and transport it through to stems and leaves where it is released into the room. This can help rectify issues of dry rooms.

In terms of air purification, plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, meaning they can contribute to cleaner air inside your place of work.

Installing external green walls will boost biodiversity by offering up a habitat for local wildlife, particularly insects and birds. When partnered with a roof garden, offices can create a haven for wildlife by developing clear spots around the building with rich patches of vegetation. What’s more, there are clear aesthetic benefits to green walls, both indoors and out.

Finally, you can get your staff involved in the maintenance of roof gardens as a calming company activity. Encouraging staff to plant seeds at work, have their lunches in the roof gardens, and engage with the plants has been proven to have relaxing effects.

Channelling waste

A quick and simple biodiversity policy your place of work could incorporate is composting. Situating compost bins in company canteens and breakrooms and encouraging their use means food waste can be recycled into compost, collected, and used to improve soil health and nutrition in local green spaces.

According to food waste statistics, the UK wastes roughly 9.5 million tonnes of food every year. Developing company compost schemes designed to channel food waste into positive biodiversity and nature projects is a sure way to create wins from waste.

This can be expanded further into all aspects of waste. Think about the types of thigs that end up in your companies bins. Is it paper, electronics, or plastics? Are their bins specifically for the collection of your company’s most discarded items?

Effectively managed waste streams in your organisation will divert unnecessary waste from landfill and help protect habitats, wildlife, and nature from afar.

Contribute to local regeneration projects

If your place of work is limited by size, location, or capacity, you can still boost biodiversity by looking beyond your own walls and considering your local environment.

Firstly, your organisation could pledge a small percentage of its revenue each year, or an annual fixed figure, to local regeneration, rewilding, and restoration projects designed to upkeep and maintain nature in your local area. This can include peatland restoration projects, reforestation, land treatment projects, and water management.

You could also get your own staff involved in biodiversity projects with volunteer days geared towards restoration and rewilding. There are numerous tree planting and peatland maintenance projects across the UK that accept groups of volunteers to help with delivering their mission.

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