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Biodiversity Consulting for Businesses & Municipalities

Artenreiche Wildblumenwiese mit verschiedenen Blüten und Gräsern – Symbol für Biodiversität und den Erhalt natürlicher Ökosysteme.

We guide you on the path to resilient, biodiversity-friendly buildings and open spaces.

Biodiversity is becoming a location and risk factor: businesses and municipalities are under growing pressure to develop sites, properties, and open spaces more resiliently, to navigate regulatory requirements, and to effectively manage concrete measures. With our biodiversity consulting, we support organizations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in anchoring biological diversity in the built environment strategically, measurably, and actionably.

Request a Biodiversity Check

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity describes the variety of species, habitats, and genetic resources. It is the foundation of functioning, resilient ecosystems and, in turn, of essential, cost-free services such as pollination, food production, pest control, and climate and water regulation.

For businesses and municipalities, biodiversity becomes relevant wherever sites and open spaces are developed, managed, or altered, and where nature-related impacts, dependencies, and risks need to be taken into account. More than half of global economic output is moderately or highly dependent on nature.

Why Biodiversity Management Is on the Agenda Now

Especially in urban and settlement areas, biodiversity should not be viewed in isolation — it plays a key role alongside climate protection, climate adaptation, quality of life, and long-term value retention. At the same time, expectations from regulators, investors, stakeholders, and the public regarding the professional management of nature-related risks and impacts continue to rise.

Why Businesses Are Prioritizing Biodiversity Management

Reporting: For large companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), biodiversity is becoming a relevant topic in sustainability reporting.
Supply Chains and Risk Management: Especially in land-use-related supply chains, biodiversity management is essential for managing risks and meeting requirements under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Financing and Access to Capital: Banks, investors, and the EU Taxonomy are raising the bar for robust biodiversity data and its traceable classification.
Resilient Properties and Sites: Biodiversity enhances quality of life, increases the appeal of properties, and supports the long-term development of sites and neighborhoods. It can also have a positive effect on sustainability certifications.

Why Municipalities Are Prioritizing Biodiversity Enhancement

Legal Obligations: Within the European Union, municipalities must factor in binding requirements such as the EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL) early in planning and development processes.
Climate Resilience Through Nature-Based Solutions: Green-blue infrastructure supports heat mitigation, water retention, and flood protection, making it a key building block of climate-adapted urban development.
Better Use of Funding: A solid technical foundation strengthens funding applications and improves access to specialized funds, such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund, or the LIFE Programme.
Contribution to Policy Goals: Through biodiversity-friendly planning and land development, municipalities make a concrete contribution to broader policy goals — in Switzerland, for example, to the Action Plan for Switzerland’s Biodiversity Strategy.

Our Biodiversity Consulting Services

Biodiversity Check & Potential Analysis

A Biodiversity Check gives us a solid foundation for decision-making. We analyze the status quo, identify risks and potential, and pinpoint where the most impactful levers lie for sites, properties, portfolios, or municipal land.

Biodiversity Strategy with Goals & KPIs

We develop biodiversity strategies tailored to your organization, your sites, and your processes. Together, we define goals, prioritize focus areas, and translate biodiversity into manageable metrics, management approaches, and a foundation for biodiversity monitoring.

Biodiversity Concept for Sites, Areas & Municipalities

We develop site-specific biodiversity concepts for properties, corporate campuses, neighborhoods, and municipal spaces. In doing so, we connect ecological impact with usability, design quality, and feasibility.

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Our Approach to Biodiversity Consulting

Sound Methodology: We work with project-specific assessment approaches based on recognized frameworks and standards — including TNFD, GRI 101, and ESRS E4 for reporting, life cycle assessments from our LCA Consulting practice, and building-specific criteria from the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).
Methodological Advancement and Research: We contribute our biodiversity expertise to further develop existing approaches and address open questions — for example, in practical guidelines and management tools, such as for Switzerland’s second-largest housing cooperative.
Interdisciplinary Team: Our team combines expertise in biodiversity, green building, climate protection, climate adaptation, and urban development. This results in solutions that bring together ecological, spatial, and strategic requirements.
Holistic Implementation: We support biodiversity holistically — from check and potential analysis to strategy and concept, all the way to embedding it in management processes, stakeholder engagement, biodiversity monitoring, and reporting.

Dr. M. Kleikamp,

Biodiversity Consulting in Practice: Our Reference Projects

Biodiversity Concept for Swiss Post Real Estate

For a new parcel center built by Swiss Post, intep developed a biodiversity concept based on DGNB/SGNI criteria. The project included site-specific goals, concrete measures, and recommendations for maintenance and monitoring.

BNB 2.0: Biodiversity Assessment Methodology

On behalf of the German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, intep contributed to the further development of the Sustainable Building Assessment System (BNB). This work produced new criteria sheets and indicators for assessing local and global biodiversity.

Municipal Biodiversity Concept for the City of Krefeld

For the City of Krefeld, intep is developing a municipal biodiversity concept for its settlement area. The focus is on strategic goals, prioritized measures, and integrating biodiversity-friendly approaches into planning and development.