Industriekultur und natur

[frostfire]

The Ruhr area in Germany was always known for it's heavy industry, but in the eighties a group of the areas cities have joined together (the Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet) and wanted to turn the area into a nature park, Das Emscherpark. Paradoxicly enough the Emscher is a river there that was full of toxic wast.
Their plans were met with laughter, but now they seem to have succeeded. It isn't just a place for walking, but you can dive in the Gasometer, where ther now is a shipwreck, abseil down the old coal basins and climb the old furnaces for apparently spectaculare views. The park is also a magnet for artists.
Not having the money to remove the tens of thousands of hectares of industrial buildings, nature has been left to do it's course and now nature has returned to the Rurh area. It is completely different to the original nature of the area though, it's even different to anything known that far north. All the metal and coal dust retains the warmth, like in the deserts of Mongolia. Seeds what were accidently brought over with the ores from Africa and Asia seem to grow happily on the warm stoney grond. It isn't only the flora that is tropical but also birds out the south are settling themselves in the area!
Any other schemes like these going on around the world combining old industrial areas with nature?

[paul m]

Sorry for delayed reply - this post passed me by.
Very interesting development in the Ruhr. The nearest I can think of elsewhere are the various developments that I mentioned in the greater Lille area - the maisons folies and like and -


I'm afraid that there are no similar developments in UK. Some of the very oldest factories have been preserved in the former industrial areas but these are rather haphazard and isolated.

Probably the best uses of ex-industrial land for nature are gravel pits and quarries - but they generally survive because people don't want to build on them! Even these are used up in southern England - for instant the Grays Chalk Quarry in Essex was an island of invertebrate diversity but, like most of the Thames Corridor, it has gone or is going to roads and housing.

Not only are there losses of sites of interest but green corridors have been blocked. For instance the Lea Valley was an excellent north-south corridor for wildlife movement but is now blocked in several places - Blog: Latest photos: a lot's changed over the last four months - London 2012

[frostfire]

I've been thinking about anything even remotely similar happening in Holland and this is all I can think of:

In the north of Holland in Friesland there is a village where only retired people live. But instead of trying to bring young blood into the village they have decided to shut the village for new residents and as the current ones all pass on the houses are left empty and once the village is totally empty the village is going to be demolished and the land given back to nature. It must be really odd to live there though...

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by paul m

Probably the best uses of ex-industrial land for nature are gravel pits and quarries - but they generally survive because people don't want to build on them! Even these are used up in southern England - for instant the Grays Chalk Quarry in Essex was an island of invertebrate diversity but, like most of the Thames Corridor, it has gone or is going to roads and housing.

Not only are there losses of sites of interest but green corridors have been blocked. For instance the Lea Valley was an excellent north-south corridor for wildlife movement but is now blocked in several places - Blog: Latest photos: a lot's changed over the last four months - London 2012

What a coincidence! Just been reading the paper and found an interesting article about just the opposite as to what is happening in the London area.
In 1998 asbestos was found in the ground at Renkums beekdal, a dale which was formed during the last ice age. There were plans to build a business area there, (I know not exactly industry), but because of the asbestos they have decided not to, but in stead to create a ecological corridor between two major nature areas of Holland; the Veluwe and the rivers in the south. They are going to place ecoducts over two nearby motorways to help the migration. They are hoping that in the long run the animals will start breeding with the species just over the border in Germany.

(I'm wondering though what they are going to do with the asbestos, can't imagine there is any point leaving it there, but if they are getting rid of it any way why have they changed the plans so drasticly...)

[paul m]

Originally Posted by frostfire

I've been thinking about anything even remotely similar happening in Holland and this is all I can think of:

In the north of Holland in Friesland there is a village where only retired people live. But instead of trying to bring young blood into the village they have decided to shut the village for new residents and as the current ones all pass on the houses are left empty and once the village is totally empty the village is going to be demolished and the land given back to nature. It must be really odd to live there though...

Weird. You can imagine the conversations of those left - more or less limited to what illnesses are affecting people and who has most recently shuffled of this mortal coil .... and what happens when it's down to three or four people and they need carers who will probably treble the population ....

[paul m]

Originally Posted by frostfire

(I'm wondering though what they are going to do with the asbestos, can't imagine there is any point leaving it there, but if they are getting rid of it any way why have they changed the plans so drasticly...)

I imagine they're taking the same attitude as I do - if the asbestos is buried then it's not a problem; and it is certainly more hazardous to move masses of it than to leave it covered. On a small scale, I had the same problem - when we moved into this house I discovered lots of asbestos (the less toxic form) at the end of the garden under other rubble, so just covered it soil and timber .... grows some nice flowers and provides a home for moles, shrews &c .....

[paul m]

Went today to an area where Victorian industry has disappeared leaving some very valuable wildlife habitats.
The remains of Millers Dale station on the old Derby-Manchester (Bakewell-Buxton really) railway line which was closed many years ago.
The station itself is now overgrown with lime-loving plants - about the only dale where these plants can be seen by people in wheelchairs because the railway line is now the fairly well-surfaced Monsal Trail.

The Trail links several nature reserves including the old quarry on the daleside which hosts many orchids, other plants, birds and insects.

Nature Reserves