Breeding sites for the sand martin

Sand martins have difficulty finding suitable locations in which to breed. Their habitat is steep sand dunes on river banks, almost all of which have disappeared due to river-straightening and floodwater-protection measures. As a result, the bird’s numbers have declined dramatically in Europe.

Because they love steep slopes, sand martins tend to choose the freshly excavated faces of gravel and sand pits as alternative breeding areas. But the needs of gravel extraction and breeding can come into conflict when the birds make their nests on sites where extraction is necessary for production. To avoid possible conflicts in relation to species protection and nature conservation, HeidelbergCement has developed a species protection programme for the sand martin. The basic idea is simple enough. If extraction work is planned at a steep slope that sand martins are already using or which could attract them, the plant involved provides the birds with man-made slopes or break lines as substitute habitats. At the same time, the areas earmarked for extraction are levelled before the sand martins can return, making them no longer attractive to the birds.

Success throughout Europe
We are currently implementing such protection measures at about 90 locations in Europe. The countries involved include Germany, the UK, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland and Norway. And our efforts have borne fruit: counts taken in 2009 and 2010 show that up to 11,172 breeding pairs have been protected.