Guide for the Management of Sand Martin populations (Riparia riparia) in Gravel Pits

The objective of this project is to design a Guide for the Management of Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) in Gravel Pits. This document will aid to reconcile the presence of Sand Martins with mining activities in gravel extraction sites.

It will be applicable at any sand pit, and its format will be a simple decision tree.

It will be aimed at the gravel pit staff, since it is they are the ones who face this issue directly. This Guide will allow then to make decisions and take actions regarding Sand Martin management, without the aid of external consultation. Furthermore, those employees with more interest, but no environmental knowledge, will be able to put into practice actions to promote biodiversity, and promote Heidelberg’s Biodiversity Strategy.

To complement this Guide, a simple study will be conducted. The objective of this study is to identify and verify which are the characteristics that should be imitated when recreating artificial slopes, so as to attract Sand Martins away from conflictive areas. These characteristics will be included in the Guide, and will aid the process of constructing artificial slopes.