Boskalis_CSR_report__2016

CSR 2016 – Boskalis 52

GRIEND NATURE PRESERVATION PROJECT

Aerial view of the uninhabited island of Griend in the Dutch Wadden Sea.

Boskalis teamed up with the Dutch Society for the Preservation of Nature (Natuurmonumenten) to protect the uninhabited island of Griend in the Dutch Wadden Sea. The island provides a vital habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory and breeding birds. However, due to erosion this bird paradise was at risk of being washed away.

Protection

Hundreds of thousands of birds forage for food on the mud flats around Griend in the spring and fall. Red knots, sanderlings, bar-tailed godwits and other waders stop off here to build up their reserves before continuing their journeys, sometimes flying thousands of miles. “Natuurmonumenten awarded us this project mainly because of all the measures we proposed to minimize any disruption of nature” says project leader Johan Miedema. “An important pre-condition on this project was that we had to minimize disruption levels. So all our colleague were housed on dry land rather than in an accommodation vessel.