In quarrying sites, there are habitats especially for endangered species

As part of the Xiamen Stone Fair 2023, Peter Becker of Stone-Ideas.com gave a presentation on current marketing for natural stone. The target audience was the stone sector in China. In several articles we publish some aspects.

Among the usual photos with which the stone sector goes public are pictures of quarries. They document the effort that goes into quarrying and processing and, in this respect, are a justification for the high price of the material.

Such pictures have impressed many generations – do they still do so today?

Because: they also present a piece of nature exploited by man. We recall our report about a group of environmental activists from the Carrara area who are fighting for the mountains and want to protect them from man.

It is to be feared that not only radical do-gooders are close to these opinions, but also that many ordinary citizens give such ideas at least some justification.

It is now known and proven that abandoned quarries can be paradises for certain adventuresome species.

Even more: ACTIVE quarries offer valuable habitats, even for endangered species of plants and animals. These species are specialized in colonizing landscapes after natural catastrophes, and there are hardly any of these left in industrial agriculture.

There are also photos of the co-inhabitants in the quarry, and they can be shown next to the usual quarry stairs. Perhaps even: in their place.

For example pictures of the eagle owl (photo on top). We had reported on one of the many cases where this large owl species nests in a quarry of all places, although heavy loaders are permanently driving back and forth and conveyor belts are running there.

Cute findings have been made by environmentalists and scientists during their observations of this bird:
* the quarry eagle owl has learned to understand the signal before the blasts: as soon as the horn sounds, it has disappeared (no one knows where), and a little later it is back at its nest (completely unimpressed);
* the environmentalists involved were afraid that the appearance of the eagle owl would be to the detriment of the brown hare, which they had previously in the surrounding settled with much effort; however, the hare is apparently much too troublesome a prey for the eagle owl – the bird prefers to fly to a large city nearby and help itself to the pigeons and rats there.

In Belgium, there has been extensive research into how the operation of quarries can go hand in hand with the interests of the animals. Experience shows that little consideration is required of operators: the following photo shows a quarry in Ireland where sand martins have dug their burrows into a pile of sand.

The only thing the operator did to protect the birds was to place a few thick chunks in front of the sand pile – lest someone accidentally destroy the animals’ habitat.

The animal guests are “our best public relations people“ says the operator of the gravel quarry.

What’s more, the animals contribute to team building in the workforce, as they suddenly develop a sense of responsibility for nature in their workplace.

There are even cases where the quarry operator derives direct benefit from the animal roommates: in Ireland, a peregrine falcon has also taken up residence in the quarry, and when operations cease on weekends, but strangers roam around the quarry without permission, the falcon soars up and makes a racket (because it does not tolerate strangers in its territory).

Then the operator knows that there are unwanted visitors in the quarry, and he calls the police.

We had described the mentioned projects under the heading “Nature in the quarry.“

See also:

(17.07.2023, USA. 17.07.2923)