EnviroSustain x Rewilding Europe collaboration: the first visit to the Oder Delta landscape

Dr. Birgit Memminger-Rieve • Jul 25, 2023

In February 2023, EnviroSustain announced a long-term partnership with Rewilding Europe. This collaboration will see a portion of the EnviroSustain turnover supporting rewilding initiatives for the next ten years, as well as pro bono advice on rewilding-related buildings in the network- such as new offices and rewilding centres. In June, Dr. Birgit Memminger-Rieve, MD at EnviroSustain, and Ingemar Hunold, Partner at EnviroSustain, met with the Rewilding Oder Delta team to provide support and advice for their newly established centre.

Getting to know the team

EnviroSustain has been providing a broad range of technical, environmental, sustainability, and energy related services to European commercial real estate firms since 2001. As part of the new agreement, the company will provide a percentage of its annual turnover over the next decade, with the money initially used to support Rewilding Europe’s recently launched European Wildlife Comeback Fund, which is working to scale up keystone species reintroduction and population reinforcement across Europe.

“So in March, Ingemar and I met with the Rewilding Europe team and explored the beautiful city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, located on the Waal river close to the German border. This was the first in-person meeting with the Rewilding Europe team. Now, towards the end of June, it was time to meet the German part of the team at the transboundary Oder Delta landscape which is situated closest to EnviroSustain’s headquarters in Berlin.” says Dr. Birgit Memminger-Rieve, EnviroSustain’s Managing Director.

“We met with the team, including Ulrich Stöcker (Managing Director & Team Leader Germany), Peter Torkler (Managing Director & Team Leader Poland), Frank Götz-Schlingmann (Network Coordinator), Suleika Suntken (Enterprise Manager) and Nancy Wolf (Freshwater Ecosystems Officer),”

A hub of wildlife within two hours from Berlin

The Oder Delta landscape entered the Rewilding Europe network in 2015. The area spreading between the border of Poland and Germany, is a unique region with a rich mosaic of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. Its strategic location on one of the ecological crossroads in Europe makes it one of the most exciting wild areas in north-central Europe.

The region which stretches over more than 450,000 hectares, of which nearly 70,000 hectares are the open waters of the lagoon, is an important stop-over site for migrating water birds using the East Atlantic Flyway. Rewetting of formerly drained pastures in Germany and the abandonment of peat-cutting in Poland has allowed a dramatic comeback of wildlife, most spectacularly for white-tailed eagles that now have the highest breeding density in Europe as well as common crane, otter, beaver, salmon, seatrout, and many other species.

Supporting resilient ecosystems

The multidisciplinary team consisting of Polish and German professionals work on the broad scope of activities ranging from freshwater ecosystems restoration, through marine rewilding, to supporting wildlife comeback and nature-based economy.

All the measures contribute to the mosaic landscape abundant with a diverse range of wildlife species. This unique jigsaw of habitats has large carbon storage capacities and, complete with naturally occurring populations of free-roaming herbivores and apex predators, can help to significantly reduce the scale and impact of climate change.

To be able to realise the bold rewilding vision, a strong network of partners working together is the key. Nature-based economy, involving a wide range of local producers, hospitality business owners, guides and nature tourism operators, attracts an increasing number of visitors – which encourages landowners to support further wildlife comeback and enables more inhabitants to make a living from wild nature.

With the opening of the new rewilding centre, the team hopes to foster a strong connection with partners, stakeholders, and communities. Plans include a transformation of the facility to comply with the newest sustainability standards and will serve as a coherent base for the organisation’s measures in the field of ecosystem restoration.

A sustainable workspace and an important meeting point

The newly inaugurated Rewilding Oder Delta headquarters is in Glashütte, near Rothenklempenow, in the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern northeast of Berlin. The two-storey building from the 1920s will act as a rewilding hub, with offices, accommodation, a meeting area and garden, space for outdoor events and workshops, and information and imagery for visitors. The surrounding plot includes impressive landscape with grassland, hedges, trees, a large garden with vegetables and fruits.

The visit was an opportunity for both teams to get to know each other and talk about the partnership during the dinner at Haffhus in Ueckermünde, a hotel with a focus on digitization, energy efficiency and sustainability. On the way to Rothenklempenow, Rewilding Oder Delta’s highlighted the close-by partners: Planet-V, producer of organic, vegan meals, and Weltacker, an environmental education project.

The visit culminated in the on-site brainstorming session in the headquarters. The teams discussed the first ideas for modernising the buildings from the 1920s, including different space functions (offices, collaboration, education, exhibition), a new energy concept, and enhancing the exterior spaces.

Besides providing technical know-how, EnviroSustain expressed their interest in engaging in practical rewilding activities. Both teams will have the chance to meet during the joint clean-up action on the Ina River in Poland, one of ROD‘s priority areas.

A huge thank you to the team of Rewilding Oder Delta for hosting us and showing us this incredible landscape. We are looking forward to our collaboration and to meeting again in September,” says Ingemar Hunold

Rewilding Oder Delta: A sustainable hub for local rewilding

by Sam Wheeler • 19 Apr, 2024

Cover Image credits: Sophie Monsarrat | Rewilding Europe

Managing physical climate risks

by Anna Höfer • 25 Mar, 2024

While many companies are already taking comprehensive measures to minimise the effects of climate change as far as possible, it is also true that climate change is inevitable in the near and distant future. This has already become noticeable in large parts of Germany with an increase in extreme weather events such as the flood disaster in the Ahr valley in 2021, numerous hot summers in recent years, or the constant rain and flooding at the beginning of this year. Companies should therefore address the risks that could arise from climate change and the associated increase in extreme weather events, for example at their different sites, as early as possible.

GBCI Circle 2024: Meet us in Athens

by Samantha Wheeler • 26 Feb, 2024

Registration is now open for the GBCI Circle event for 2024. You can register here. EnviroSustain is proud to once again be a sponsor of this event which will be held in Athens, Greece. The event will run from the 17-19 April and the three days will be packed with a welcome reception, sustainable building tours, experiences, and learning sessions. After such a great experience last year in Barcelona , we can’t wait to travel with the team again. As we avoid air travel as part of our ESG Policy, the ES team will be travelling to Athens by land and sea over the course of two days! This involves the night train from Munich to Roma (or alternatively to Bologna), train to Bari, then the ferry overnight from Bari to Patras and to finish the bus to Athens. We look forward to sharing our journey with you on social media. GBCI Circle is designed to provide networking opportunities and education sessions for Europe's LEED consultants, property owners and managers, building experts and consultants and all of those interested in sustainability within real estate. The 2024 program focuses on the future of Healthy Human Habitat Venues include The Piraeus Tower (pursuing LEED Platinum and WELL certification), The Lighthouse (LEED Platinum), The Ellinikon (pursuing LEED, WELL and SITES), The National Gallery of Art (2 x LEED Silver certifications).

GRESB Changes 2024

by Samantha Wheeler • 15 Feb, 2024

With the start of a new year comes the beginning of a new GRESB reporting period. EnviroSustain has been supporting clients with GRESB submissions for almost a decade now and we are pleased to see participation growing. The GRESB portal will open on 1st April but now is the time to begin prepping your team and collecting data. As ESG reporting gains more momentum in the mainstream, changes are needed to keep up with current developments. The Real Estate and Infrastructure Standards Committee works to gather feedback and make recommendations on changes to the GRESB Foundation Board.

New year opportunities: ESG Trends 2024

by Anna Höfer • 28 Jan, 2024

The annual Global Risk Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) presents a comprehensive analysis of current global challenges. In its report published in January of this year, the WEF warns of a "foreseen duo of dangerous crises", referring to the duality of climate and conflict-related challenges. Respondents from academia, business, government, the international community and civil society see climate change-related risks in particular as a key global challenge in the long term. According to the survey, the four most highly rated risks over the next 10 years are: extreme weather events, critical changes to earth systems, loss of biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems. In addition, current crises and conflicts such as inflation, the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Palestine make many respondents pessimistic about the coming years. If implemented consistently, ESG guidelines can help to reduce the negative impact of companies on the environment and thus mitigate climate change-related risks by creating a sustainable business environment. In 2024, numerous new EU regulations will come into force to make ESG reporting more transparent and standardised. The aim is to oblige companies to be more transparent and accountable with regard to their environmental impact.

Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

by Samantha Wheeler • 22 Jan, 2024

We are all increasingly aware of the pressing need for environmental sustainability and as biodiversity disclosures gain momentum , the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) serves as a blueprint for integrating nature-related disclosures into decision making and existing mandatory reporting requirements. TNFD, like the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), operates as a voluntary disclosure framework. However, we hope that some governments and regulatory bodies will begin to incorporate TNFD recommendations into mandatory reporting frameworks. For organisations, voluntary adoption of TNFD is a proactive step towards staying ahead of potential regulatory changes and investor demands. By embracing TNFD early, companies can gain a competitive advantage and demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility.

The Rise of Biodiversity Regulations

by Samantha Wheeler • 17 Jan, 2024

With all the good biodiversity gives us and our environment, you would hope that it is sufficiently protected and supported by legislation. Not only in Europe, but also worldwide. As part of the European Green deal approved in 2020, the Nature Restoration Law is the first of its kind to cover the entire continent in Europe. Sadly, 80% of Europe’s natural habitats are in poor condition, but the proposed Nature Restoration Law will help to turn the tide when it comes to the protection and rejuvenation of European biodiversity by two 2030 and 2050 milestones.

The Importance of Biodiversity

by Samantha Wheeler • 15 Jan, 2024

‘Biodiversity’ is known as ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; including diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems’. According to this report by the World Economic Forum, Biodiversity equals around $44 trillion in economic value (more than 50% of global GDP), making biodiversity one of Earth’s most valuable assets. Despite the massive amount of value biodiversity provides us, our global loss of biodiversity over the past 50 years has been significant, and 80% of that global biodiversity loss is caused by the built environment, agriculture, and energy/extractives. Sadly, a byproduct of advancing our own environments is that we’re destroying the Earth’s natural ones at the same time. This is because of many factors, and IPBES notes five main drivers: Habitat loss Over-exploitation of natural resources Spread of invasive species Climate change Pollution

The importance of reducing our impact on the warming world

by Samantha Wheeler • 05 Sept, 2023

Amongst all the policies and jargon out there, it’s easy to forget why it all matters and what the overarching goal is, so let’s take a moment to think about it. The pressure on Earth’s resources is becoming unbearable. Every year, Earth Overshoot Day (the annual date that marks the point when humanity uses more biological resources than the Earth can regenerate within a given year) creeps earlier and earlier. Extreme heat events are becoming more common with forest fires on the rise; species are dying due to habitat loss and food scarcity; our seas are rising and warming leading to devastating floods and enforced migration. All of this and we’re still projected to exceed 1.5 degrees of global warming, despite the 2015 Paris Agreement and subsequent UN promises. In short, we need action, and we need it yesterday.