Presentation of the new guidelines for promoting excavation amphibians at quartz works
On Tuesday, June 3, an important event took place at Quarzwerke: the ceremonial presentation of the new guide to the conservation of excavation amphibians.
The publication is the result of eight years of collaboration and further development of a project that was launched to promote rare toad species in open-cast mining areas. (Going hand in hand: species conservation and raw material extraction – NABU NRW).
Dr. Páez-Maletz, Managing Director of Quarzwerke, kicked off the event by warmly welcoming the guests and emphasizing the great importance of the new guidelines for environmental protection and biodiversity. His words underscored Quarzwerke’s commitment to harmonizing industry and nature conservation.
In their welcoming speeches, Monika Hachtel from NABU NRW and Raimo Benger from the industry association vero also emphasized the importance of cooperation between industry and nature conservation. The common goal is to protect biodiversity in the long term—especially in areas that have been shaped by human intervention.
The highlight of the event was the presentation by Peter Schmidt from the Bonn/Rhein-Erft Biological Station. Together with colleagues from NABU, other biological stations, and Quarzwerke biologist Britta Franzheim, Schmidt played a key role in developing the new guidelines. In his presentation, he explained the ecological concept behind the so-called “excavation amphibians” – i.e., amphibian species that specifically benefit from the special conditions in excavation areas – and why an update of the old guidelines was urgently needed.
New chapter: Artificial water bodies
A key new chapter in the guide is devoted to the topic of artificial water bodies. In view of increasingly hot and dry spring and summer months, artificially created spawning grounds are becoming increasingly important for the reproduction of rare species such as the natterjack toad and the natterjack toad. The guide offers practical recommendations: from the construction and maintenance of suitable ponds to the design of shallow water zones and the creation of hiding places.
Following the presentation, Peter Schmidt and Britta Franzheim took the guests on a tour of various bodies of water in the open-cast mining area. There, they clearly demonstrated how easy it is to implement many of the proposed measures. The success was evident: hundreds of common toad and natterjack toad tadpoles impressively demonstrated the benefits of the ecological enhancements. The participants were particularly delighted by a little star of the day—a newly metamorphosed baby common toad.
With the new guidelines, the raw materials industry and nature conservation are sending a strong signal for sustainable species protection in industrially used areas. The initiative exemplifies how nature conservation and raw material extraction can be combined—and encourages further projects of this kind.
