The construction industry and the structures we create are often cast as antagonists to the natural world. But what if we reframed that lens, seeing built infrastructure as nature’s partner rather than substitute. The Eden Project’s mission captures this potential, the idea that people are part of nature, not apart from it. Their work is about respect, protection and repair, transforming a barren clay pit into a vibrant, living landscape. That transformation offers a powerful metaphor for construction too. Can we build in ways that do not simply minimise harm, but proactively restore and enrich natural systems?

For us in construction, biodiversity should never be the extra patch of green left at the edge of a site. It is essential infrastructure. As the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Planetary Solvency report makes clear, ignoring biodiversity risks threatening the very systems we depend on, from water and soil fertility to climate regulation and ultimately societal stability. They use a striking phrase, planetary insolvency, the idea that if ecosystems collapse then our economic and social systems may follow. In this framing, solvency is not about financial accounts but about ecological balance. The report’s risk dashboard urges us to manage human activity within nature’s limits, treating biodiversity loss as a systemic business risk and not just a compliance box to tick. It is risk management with biology at its core.

There are lessons here for all of us. We can embrace regenerative design, ensuring sites restore degraded soil, revive local hydrology and create habitats rather than erasing them. We can learn from nature’s own blueprints, borrowing from the efficiency of biomimicry when shaping materials, drainage systems and façades. And we can make biodiversity visible, turning construction sites into living examples of how the industry can support pollinators, green corridors and resilient local ecosystems.

When we align construction with nature, we are not simply enhancing biodiversity, we are securing our own future. Healthy ecosystems provide services that no building or technology can fully replicate. And by taking the lessons of Planetary Solvency to heart, we can pivot away from short-termism towards building communities that are resilient for generations. World Habitat Day reminds us that habitat is not just a backdrop but a dynamic force we can steward. The built environment does not have to be its enemy. It can be a collaborator, a teacher and a protector.

The CIOB’s film series The Nature of Building, produced with Content With Purpose, shows what is possible right now in our industry to help nature and to nurture it. It is a reminder that the solutions already exist, if we choose to put them into practice.