Guide To Green Infrastructure and Building With Nature

Matthew recently became an Accredited Assessor for the Building With Nature Accreditation scheme. We therefore thought it would be interesting to share what Infrastructure is - especially in the light of the imminent passage of Biodiversity Net Gain legislation onto the Statute books - to see how we can make the most of integrating these ideas at the garden scale.

So what is Green Infrastructure (GI)?

Green Infrastructure is simply a way of approaching the design of the landscape that makes the broad needs of nature, and the broad needs of people, integral to the space.

It is all about creating nature-rich, beautiful places and landscapes (that are also active, healthy, thriving and prosperous for the people within them). In addition GI pays attention to embodying good water management and being created to last and thrive long onto the future whilst also mitigating climate change impacts.

Good quality green infrastructure delivers on these aims through multi-functional masterplanning, to provide the above diverse range of functions and benefits. At its core it connects both people and wildlife across the landscape in a way that responds to an area’s unique character (its genius loci).

Although that sounds like a series of good intentions, the key message is that these aims are all deliverable. Green Infrastructure is achieved through partnership and collaboration at the planning, design and implementation phases, basing the decisions made on evidence and sound science, to create beautiful, well designed, sustainable and managed places.

How can we realise good GI in gardens and smaller developments?

The choice of functions that good green infrastructure can offer are diverse and so here is a high level overview of just a selection of those that may be considered.

SuDS solutions

- sustainable urban drainage is crucial to avoiding flooding but equally it can provide a range of opportunities for create nature rich solutions to the challenge of sustainable drainage;

- available options that can be considered include installations to capture and slow the passage of water so that it does not all hit the drainage system at the same time - examples of this are green roofs, blue roofs, green walls, rain gardens, and swales, - which then eventually lead to pools or lakes to attenuate water on site

Planting solutions

- Trees are crucial to the character of a garden, landscape or development and should be retained where it is safe to do so; mature trees are vital but so is the additional planting of new trees (to create a broad age profile)

- Tree choice should include native species and ornamental trees to mitigate future changes in climate and provide habitat; they may also include the provision of orchards or simply retaining dead wood for its habitat value (again where it is safe to do so)

- Pollinator friendly planting and meadows can provide early, mid and late season pollen and nectar for insects whilst ensuring a colourful and aesthetically pleasing floral display

- Greening up grey utility structures  (i.e. Green roofs on bin stores) can make a huge difference to the atmosphere of a place, even where other interventions are not possible

Habitat provision and safe routes

- Man-made habitat features can be installed to encourage nature to return to a site - these can include nest boxes, hibernation boxes, hibernacula, micro-habitats; however these must be chosen with care for local species as otherwise they will not be used and would add no actual value to a scheme

- Passages, ducts, and other structures should always be considered to allow nature to cross roads or to pass under/through fences and other solid barriers

The types of green infrastructure interventions chosen will also vary depending upon the type of space being designed (for example private domestic gardens, public open spaces; natural spaces, play spaces, allotments etc) but these should always be designed to ensure connectivity - whether linkages are made directly with adjacent green infrastructure or to provide a stepping stone between local habitats close by.

What is Building With Nature?

Building with Nature is a voluntary assessment and accreditation framework that is about making high-quality green infrastructure integral to placemaking in the UK - and in doing so put nature at the heart of development in a way that is good for people and for wildlife. It offers a set of best practice Standards that collectively defines a benchmark of good green infrastructure and how to deliver it. It helps reduce planning risk by ensuring development is aligned with current and emerging policy themes for climate change, nature recovery and people’s wellbeing.

In summary, through assessment and accreditation, a Building with Nature Award offers a means of recognising and valuing policy and development that goes beyond standard practice to deliver multifunctional spaces for new and existing communities, spaces that are:

• close to nature;

• deliver cost effective ecosystem services, e.g. water management and flood prevention;

• are supportive of nature’s recovery; and

• adapted for and resilient to climate change.

A Final thought

In conclusion, there are many solutions that are possible even on a smaller scale to achieve good quality green infrastructure, be that in a garden design in Yorkshire, or across the UK, in the wider landscape, or for a small development….and the secret to good landscape design is combining these in such a way that they can achieve maximum benefits for wildlife, and for water and climate resilience, whilst integrating seamlessly with the aesthetics of a biodiverse and beautiful scheme.