(Image credit: BAM Construction and CIRIA)

With construction and development essential for continued economic growth, it is crucial that the current upward trend does not come at the expense of the natural environment. Further awareness of the relationship between natural systems and a strong economy has led to organisations developing plans and strategies that integrate both economic and environmental targets.

An essential part of an organisation meeting environmental targets is to ensure that biodiversity becomes an integrated part of construction planning and projects. At present there is still some uncertainty surrounding incorporating biodiversity into projects with many viewing it as a topic only suited to technical experts.

This is where the BIG Biodiversity Challenge plays a unique role, allowing organisations to reach environmental targets whilst raising awareness and training members of staff. The challenge has a simple message of ‘do one thing’ for biodiversity which demonstrates that enhancements can be simple, affordable and achievable. These biodiversity enhancements can range from installing bat boxes and bug hotels through to detailed action plans and management strategies.

Now in its third year the challenge has continued to grow with new award categories launched to reflect the dynamic nature of the industry and focusing on the core areas of infrastructure, urban development and mineral extraction.

The 2016 award categories include:

• Client Award
• Community Engagement Award
• Large Scale Permanent Award
• Medium Scale Permanent Award
• Small Scale Permanent Award
• Maintenance & Management Award
• Pollinator Award
• Temporary Award

The BIG Biodiversity Challenge is free to enter and the deadline is August 8, with the 2016 awards ceremony taking place on September 15 in a central London venue. There are also fantastic sponsorship opportunities for organisations wanting to be involved in this year’s Awards ceremony. For further information on how to enter, and to be inspired by last year’s entries, please click to visit www.bigchallenge.info

Michael Small, Project Manager, CIRIA

The post The BIG Biodiversity Challenge 2016 appeared first on Biodiversity Professionals.

Megastigmus schimitscheki, a type of cedar wasp, is considered to be an invasive species in southern France. (See Fabre JP, Auger-Rozenberg MA, Chalon A, Boivin S, Roques A. 2004. Competition between exotic and native insects for seed resources in trees of a Mediterranean forest ecosystem. Biological Invasions 6:11‒22. Photo courtesy of Thomas Boivin.)

Invasive species project: first phase goals

During the first phase of the project, we are gathering opinions via an online survey on the global and local issues that might affect the management of biological invasions in the next 20 to 50 years. We want to explore issues that may emerge and have implications in a more distant future than currently considered in the management of biological invasions. These can be issues which might have positive or negative implications.

Invasive species project: survey goals

We invite people working with or interested in biological invasions to fill in the survey on our website: www.alienfutures.org.

Click to take the invasive species survey

The survey is also available in French and Spanish on that page. We encourage people to think creatively beyond the time frame of their current work. All of the issues identified will be published online on the project webpage. Project outputs will include a long list of global issues, a long list of local issues and a shortlist of global issues. We will make the data available for use and further research, with workshops planned to explore the implications of these issues for policy and management.

Please share the invasive species project survey

We would like to distribute the survey as widely as possible and ask people to share it within their networks. Please contact us at info@alienfutures.org if you want an email draft (available in English, French and Spanish).

Follow the invasive species project

You can follow the progress of the project on the website www.alienfutures.org or Twitter at @alienfutures. You can search or follow using the hashtag #alienfutures.

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