Biodiversity in companies: General meeting of Biodiversity in Good Company

On 24 and 25 September, this year’s general meeting of Biodiversity in Good Company, the network for companies committed to protecting and promoting biodiversity, took place at Werner & Mertz in Mainz. corsus has been a member since March, and our managing director Dr Ulrike Eberle was impressed by the commitment and expertise that comes together in the network, as she was at the expert meeting in June.

On the first day, in addition to a technical input from Dr Marten Winter from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) on cooperation between business and science, the programme also included a presentation by the DIHK on biodiversity alliances. The formation of biodiversity alliances is supported by the Business for Biodiversity (UBi) project. This provided an opportunity for the Rheinhessen alliance, which is currently being established, to introduce itself. Afterwards, we visited the NABU Rhine Meadows Centre in Bingen. In a presentation, we learned about the diverse work of NABU and explored the natural garden with its diverse habitats in the pouring rain. Werner & Mertz has been working with NABU for many years and supports many of the projects implemented by NABU. After the tour, there was a hands-on opportunity to build an insect hotel or plant the great burnet grown in the natural garden. The great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) is a food plant for the very rare dusky large blue butterfly (Phengaris nausithous), a butterfly with a fascinating life cycle. In addition to the butterflies, the caterpillars also feed on the plant in their early stages of development. At the end of summer, the caterpillars drop to the ground and, with luck, are carried into the ant nest by the right species of ant (usually red wood ants of the species Myrmica rubra).

They mimic the scent of ant brood and are cared for like the colony’s own brood, even though they feed on the brood during winter and then pupate in the nest. After hatching, however, they must hurry, as the adult moth is considered an intruder and can itself become prey.

After a leisurely evening in a Mainz beer bar, the second day was devoted entirely to the general meeting. First, however, there was more input, this time from the Nature Positive Initiative, which presented its approach. Following an update on the initiative’s activities, the new board was elected. But first, it was time to thank the outgoing board members Georg Hoffmann from Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co KG and Simon Krischer from Biokreis for their commitment. Jan Fockele from Forest Finance Service GmbH and Lara Boye from Artenglück were newly elected to the board, which is now complete. Thank you to Veronika Venenziano and Caroline Lamps from the office for the great preparation! We look forward to continuing our joint efforts in the initiative for the urgently needed protection of biodiversity!

corsus advises companies on integrating biodiversity into sustainability management and on how to create a biodiversity footprint. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

You can find a podcast on the topic with Dr Ulrike Eberle here.