Knauf Gips KG

For more than 90 years, Knauf Gips KG, headquartered in Iphofen (Germany), has been mining natural gypsum. The extraction of this locally bound resource always involves a temporary but significant intervention in nature and the landscape. Knauf strives to minimize this impact as much as possible and to preserve or even enhance the quality of the area through subsequent recultivation or renaturation.
Our goal is not only to comply with legal requirements but also to go far beyond them in promoting nature conservation. The mining industry, in particular, can contribute significantly to enriching our local ecosystems—a perspective that has increasingly come into focus in conservation efforts in recent years.

"Since it became more widely known that abandoned or even still-operating quarries provide particularly suitable refuges for rare animal and plant species in our natural environment, there has been a shift in thinking among conservationists and the raw materials industry," says Bernd Raab, a geobotanist at the Bavarian Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature (LBV).

A particularly important focus for Knauf is the renaturation of old quarries. Broadly speaking, this involves the active restoration or even enhancement of nature after gypsum extraction has taken place. This effort is essential because, for rare flora and fauna such as the wood sage (Teucrium scordium), midwife toad, smooth snake, and others to find a home in a former quarry, significant time and resources must be invested even after mining operations have ceased. To meet this challenge, comprehensive biodiversity management is required.

"Knauf is one of the few companies that has hired biologists specifically for this purpose," says Pascal Bunk, Biodiversity Manager at Knauf Gips KG.

One particularly fruitful collaboration has been with the LBV. What began in 1991 as the LBV's pilot project to promote "gypsum steppes" in Bavaria has since evolved into a broad approach to collaboration between Knauf, official and private conservation organizations in planning and implementing renaturation measures. Together with other companies in the construction and raw materials sector, Knauf works in the LBV's "Habitat Quarry and Gravel Pit" working group to implement practical conservation efforts in mining areas.

This is far from the only partnership Knauf has entered into with environmental organizations. In addition to the "Frankenbündnis" for environmental education, the Federal Association "Building Materials – Stones and Earth e.V.," and the development of a concept for migratory biotopes with NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union), Knauf continuously strives to give back to the environment. Knauf also promotes biodiversity on a European level, for example, by establishing a standardized set of biodiversity indicators for monitoring active mining sites in collaboration with EUROGYPSUM.

In the spring of 2025, Knauf achieved another milestone in biodiversity management. As part of the GiBBS (Holistic Biodiversity Management in the Building Materials Industry) project, the "Biodiversity in Extraction Sites" handbook was published by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research, with Knauf playing a key role in its development. This handbook demonstrates how companies in the raw materials industry can integrate species conservation into their daily operations and provides valuable tips and practical case studies.

In the future, Knauf will continue to implement numerous conservation measures to ensure a promising future for both people and the environment. Currently, Knauf is working on a biodiversity strategy. This includes the creation of biodiversity management plans and detailed monitoring of habitat types and Red List species before and after gypsum extraction. In this way, biodiversity will be even better promoted in the years to come.

(Text translated from German via AI)