Discuss the following topics with each other:

1. I really don't pay any attention to the flora and fauna in my working environment.
2. How am I implementing 'Heijmans: creators of a healthy living environment'?
3. What are regularly used resting and reproduction places?

During this toolbox meeting, we will discuss how flora and fauna are protected in the Netherlands. The purpose of the Nature Conservation Act is to protect and preserve wild plant and animal species.

The following actions are prohibited under the Nature Conservation Act:

• picking or gathering plants
• killing, maiming or catching animals
• intentionally disturbing animals
• destroying or disturbing nests, dens or regularly used resting and reproduction places
• searching for and gathering eggs

1. Generally speaking, the breeding season runs from 15 March to 15 July.
2. The spawning season for fish and amphibians generally runs from mid-February to mid-August.
3. Bats hibernate between mid-November and the start of April. After those dates, flying routes must be available again, including through civil engineering works such as tunnels and bridges.

Request a nature calendar from the Landscape and Ecology team (ecologie@heijmans.nl) for the species relevant to the project (the three points above are all examples taken from a nature calendar)

Distinguish between temporary and permanent situations

What are regularly used resting and reproduction places? (examples)

• Beaver, badger and rabbit dens
• Nests subject to year-round protection (birds of prey, storks and house sparrows)
• Bat boxes and winter habitats (wall cavities in homes)
• Holes and crevices in trees: bats, pine marten and other small mustelids
• Places with protected flora

• The duty of care (Article 1.11 of the Nature Conservation Act) is always applicable. This duty of care is a safety net in the Act that must be applied in all situations the Nature Conservation Act doesn't specifically provide for!

• Always check in advance whether any animals are breeding where the work is due to take place.
• Prevent birds being able to nest in the vicinity of where the work is taking place.
• Please note: The Nature Conservation Act does not provide any breeding season dates. As soon as protected native breeding birds have started their breeding process, no disruptive work or activities may take place, regardless of the time of year. Even after the breeding process, the young must be capable of flight and must no longer be dependent on their parents.
• What are the regularly used resting and reproduction places of birds of prey, for example (nests subject to year-round protection)? Does the EWP say anything about this?
• What are the flyways of bats and where could construction lighting have a disruptive effect? Does the EWP say anything about this?
• When protected species appear on a work site, the work needs to be stopped, and the environmentalist must be contacted straightaway. A note must also be made in the Environmental Logbook.