Biodegradable nest box designed for endangered wildlife conservation

Aintzane Huarte (Pamplona, 22 years old) has a degree in Design from the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra and has designed a nesting box to protect endangered species. The designer's proposal is part of her Final Degree Project entitled "Building a bridge for the future. Proposal for the conservation of threatened urban and forest fauna and the promotion of environmental education".

This nesting box presents two important novelties. On the one hand, "its design allows changing the user" and can house two different species. The suggested nest box is designed so that it can be occupied by both the common swift(Apus apus) -a migratory bird present in cities- and the saproxylic insects(Osmoderma eremita) that live in forests. On the other hand, the shape of the box can be oriented horizontally or vertically depending on the animal that will reside in it.

"The final form is a box whose curved design, inspired by contour line maps, allows for create modular groups of boxes on building façades to facilitate life in swift coloniess, while it can also combine two boxes vertically by joining the internal spaces, for an increase in volumetric capacity to make the habitability of saproxylic invertebrate larvae possible," says Aintzane Huarte.

In order to carry out this proposal, the young woman from Pamplona has studied for months the behavior of these two species, as well as the impact that certain human actions have on the environment, such as, for example, urban growth and deforestation.

For Aintzane Huarte, this project aims to create a bridge between the environment and society in order to ensure the survival of some endangered species thanks to artificial nesting boxes, and also to improve knowledge about sustainability "using design as an educational method to promote biodiversity conservation".  

100% sustainable design with implications for environmental education

The nesting box suggested by Huarte is designed to be produced in wood, does not require any metal parts for its assembly, and its design is inspired by natural elements. "The box does not use glues for its assembly, nor resins or treatments to improve its resistance to damage caused by climatic factors, since its production would make use of resistant woods such as acacia or some species of pine".

In terms of design, Huarte has taken into account the orientation of the cavity, the interior space required by the species, the habits and social behavior of these animals, as well as sustainability requirements, the possibility of biomimetics and ease of production.

In the future, the designer from Navarre intends to test the effectiveness of the box, optimize the possibilities of its design, and "start up the educational part associated with the project, carrying out workshops in collaboration with educational centers and naturalist associations".