The zoological monitoring, led by Dr. Gernot Kunz, examined a total of 20 renaturalized green spaces between 210 m2 and 810 m2 at BILLA stores in Lower Austria as well as a lawn mower meadow in Styria that is still intensively cultivated with regular mowing. The monitoring revealed that up to 330 species occur on the renaturalized flowering areas. On the intensively managed meadow, only around 190 species.
“The study shows that properly managed and renaturalized green spaces at BILLA supermarkets are already important stepping stone biotopes and even core habitats for numerous endangered species and species threatened with extinction, thereby helping to safeguard our biodiversity. With well over 1000 species, including plants and fungi, some of which are highly endangered, the BILLA stores surveyed make an important contribution to the conservation of local flora and fauna. A gradual expansion of these measures to green spaces at BILLA stores throughout Austria is underway,” says project manager Dr. Gernot Kunz.
Together with Dr. Gernot Kunz, a further 15 experts were involved in the monitoring. They identified and collected the following species groups: Bugs, beetles, short-winged beetles & ground beetles, mites & springtails, bumblebees, reptiles, amphibians, bats, dragonflies, plant wasps, grasshoppers, cicadas, butterflies, wild bees, digger and wrinkle wasps, birds, grasshoppers, web-flyers, leaf fleas, cockroaches, earwigs and arachnids. Among the species observed in the restored areas are several “endangered” and “critically endangered” species such as the large maple beetle (Ropalopus clavipes), the variegated ash borer beetle (Anthaxia podolica), the yellow beetle cicada (Agalmatium flavescens), the variegated wormwood leaf cicada (Eupteryx adspersa), the sulphur ant cicada (Tettigometra sulphurea), the thick-headed cicada (Anaceratagallia laevis), the large spittlebug (Aelia rostrata) and the hairy stilt bug (Berytinus hirticornis). In the group of butterflies, a total of 67 species were recorded, 18 of which were butterflies. The Carniolan ram (Zygaena carniolica), which is classified as vulnerable (endangered) according to the Red List of moths in Austria, as well as the red fritillary and the small sainfoin blue among the butterflies are considered special. There are only a handful of recent records from Austria of some registered species such as the ground beetle (Lebia humeralis) and the Ligurian mason bee (Osmia ligurica). In comparison, the intensively farmed reference areas perform very poorly in terms of species diversity, and there is also a lack of species relevant to nature conservation. All animals observed were documented photographically by the biologists and placed on the iNaturalist reporting platform in collection projects and an umbrella project. In this way, 300 additional identifiers, mainly from Europe, were recruited to verify the uploaded datasets. In addition, all collected data sets are publicly accessible and are available for biodiversity research and nature conservation. Individual species that could not be identified with photos were removed and examined in the laboratory for genital morphology.
“In times of global species extinction, the near-natural design of previously intensively farmed areas is an obligation for all of us. With the renaturation of green spaces, BILLA is sending a clear signal that regional extinction processes can also be reversible. Rare butterflies are a thank you for this,” says Dr. Peter Huemer, CEO of Blühendes Österreich and curator of the natural science collection at the Tyrolean State Museums.
BILLA has been renaturing green spaces around its stores into natural meadows since 2018. To date, around 30,000 m2 of land at 40 BILLA and BILLA PLUS locations have been converted into flowering meadows. Since the beginning, the project has been supported by nature conservation experts and organizations such as the Thermenlinie-Wienerwald-Wiener Becken landscape conservation association at many locations south of Vienna. A large proportion of the seeds come from the REWISA seed network. As part of the project, the gardening companies commissioned were also trained in nature conservation by the nature conservation experts.
Another new standard for newly built BILLA and BILLA PLUS stores is extensive greening in the form of trees, natural meadows and green roofs and facades. These are carried out on the basis of a specially created manual, provide a cooling microclimate and promote biodiversity. The BILLA PLUS in Baden and the BILLA in Oberwaltersdorf, among others, shine in lush green.
The study by Dr. Gernot Kunz can be read here: Billa Biodiversitätsflächen Dachprojekt · iNaturalist
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