Luzius Wirth is CEO of idverde, a sustainability-focused landscaping and maintenance company. Luzius tells Nomura Greentech that he sees more demand for biodiversity projects combining urbanization and nature to help people and the planet thrive.

I grew up and live in Switzerland so if I’m not working, I spend a lot of time in the Alps, mountain biking, hiking and skiing; when you spend time outdoors you realize how quickly nature is changing. To take an example - some of the glaciers I hiked on
10 years ago have disappeared. You literally see year on year how quickly they are retreating. It really makes you think about where this is going.

As the father of two young children, I also worry about what we will leave behind for the next generation and that sparked my understanding of sustainability.

I must admit that I was previously in an industry – aviation services - that was not necessarily climate conscious. Flying was our business driver, and you quickly realize how hard it is to build that bridge to sustainability.

When I heard about the idverde opportunity, it immediately appealed to be working on something with a deep meaning, a deep sense that we are using the forces of nature to
help us adjust to a changing world.

It is dramatic. A month ago, I was in The Netherlands visiting the southern town of Maastricht. After a big flood in December, the river Meuse breached its boundaries causing a phenomenal amount of damage. It changed the landscape as one of the dams broke and swept away some houses.

idverde was contracted to deal with the clean-up operation and as part of the restoration effort we need to ensure that the riverbed is put back in place.

When you see the force of massive rainfall in a very short period of time, that’s becoming more intense and frequent, there is clearly a need for more climate resilient solutions.

Depending on the season, we are anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 passionate landscapers, architects and eco-engineering experts applying our expertise to outdoor projects.

Most of our work comes from public municipalities and cities, which requires an understanding of how to create shared spaces where there is room for recreation, as well as ensuring sustainable habitats for wildlife and protecting native species.

We are also called upon to deal with remedial work. If you take a community or suburb where you have heavy rainfall, the sewage system is often prone to overflowing. One
approach is to create semi-nature ponds where water is held back and then flows into the environment over time without flushing the sewage system. That kind of sustainable
drainage system is the kind of innovative solution we need to implement in order to adapt to the consequences of climate change.

This is a key topic as we grow the Group. We have more than
1 billion euros and 10,000 employees so procurement and
supply chain management is becoming more prominent in
our strategy.

We select suppliers based on their sustainability credentials
as well as how innovative their products are. To take an
example, we are electrifying many of our handheld devices
like small chain saws, mowers and trimmers.

We are investing significant amounts in converting to a
sustainable fleet while also working closely with existing
suppliers on product adjustments and trialling new products.

Firstly, we are a people business, and, in that sense, we
are very close to our communities and customers. We offer
educational training courses to our employees as part of our
contract with society. We also offer programs where we take
people that are quite distant from the job market and train
them up to become experts over time.

When I look at the planet, naturally, what we do is connected
to the environment. We bring innovative solutions to our
customers and try to educate them that it’s not always the
manicured English garden that is best for nature, sometimes
its beneficial to let the grass grow and create biodiverse
spaces. We also bring solutions and ideas – with more people
living in urban areas, we need to find different ways to allow
nature and people to thrive together for the benefit of our
environment.

And then performance is based on operating a sustainable,
responsible business which grows by harnessing the
opportunities that are emerging as more progressive
ideas and solutions are needed by both our municipal
clients as they balance people and nature, and by private
companies who want guidance and support to fulfil their ESG
responsibilities. And that’s how we combined the 3 pillars
around our approach.

Depending on the country, roof gardens are popular,
especially in Northern Europe.

For example, in Denmark, we are developing Mary Elizabeth’s
Magical Gardens above a children’s hospital. It’s a large
healing roof providing hospitalized children and their families
a space to rejuvenate and spend time together.

In Switzerland, we have created more than 17,000 square
meters of green roof spaces over the past 2 years driven by
the market as it’s good for water management after rainfall
and it helps with biodiversity. It’s beneficial from a scientific
point of view to have a roof garden to keep the temperature
stable in your building.

There is definitely a convergence of nature and urbanization
as more people live in cities. That’s the intersection which fits
our expertise - we want to bring nature back into cities and
convert them from predominantly grey to green-grey.
Striking a balance across the ESG agenda is important and
we collaborate with our clients to understand the possibilities
to develop their ESG plans.

We are certainly seeing more demand for biodiversity
projects, and I can give you examples across all the countries
we operate in.

Our flagship project is at the port of Rotterdam, one of the
world’s shipping container ports, covering more than 10,500
hectares over 55km.

Despite being an industrial site, we have developed it into an
area rich in wildlife. We have worked closely with the client to
improve biodiversity via several sub-projects including:

• Cultivating a plot of land for tree planting; willows, elms,
  alders, maples, lindens, poplars and ornamental pears
  to create a ‘tree nursery’. The trees are grown in an
  ecological way, and we only use organic food and natural
  processes. Research should show which species of
  insects, birds and mammals will use the nursery.
  
  
• Experiments on the eradication of Japanese knotweed.
  We are trialing various methods, including the drip
  method with salt water, hot water injection and roots
  reset, a substrate cover with grass clippings (hay) and
  very fine wood chips and (organic) foil.
  
  
• Working with an ecologist to check any new maintenance
  work ahead of time. It means that as well as maintaining
  existing nature reserves, a number of nature spots have
  also been created on the port site to offer animals an
  alternative, quiet place, for example a bird valley.

In the UK, the London Borough of Bromley has several
parks marked as sites of special scientific interest. In the
midst of an urban development, they contain a wide range
of semi-natural habitat types including ancient woodlands,
farmlands, wetlands, chalk, acid and neutral grasslands. It’s
quite a responsibility to maintain this important site, for the
protection of the many and varied species and plantlife.

Demand for biodiversity solutions will only become stronger
over time as companies see the benefits of bringing nature
and urban spaces together in a sustainable way.

A big element is educating the general population that a
polished park is not necessarily good for nature; it may be
more appropriate to let spaces grow wild in order to preserve
biodiversity.

Education is also required to explain that it’s not necessarily
cheaper to take this approach as the area needs to be
maintained differently and monitored. It’s just another way of
investing in your environment.

I could give you about 10,000 names - that would be each and every one of our employees. When I see their passion and commitment, for me, they are sustainability heroes - they go out every day with the motivation to make the world better.

Someone who has personally inspired me is Reinhold Messner, the alpinist, who made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest. He was early in sounding the alarm for the need to take action to mitigate the impacts of climate change. We should have listened to him.