This practical guide aims to encourage and enable Further and Higher Education (FHE) institutions across the world to take action on biodiversity. It looks at how to mobilise your institution alongside practical biodiversity management guidance. It contains information for grounds maintenance staff through to environmental and senior estates managers. It will also be useful to any student and member of staff at universities or colleges involved in biodiversity initiatives.
This guide is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES).
This guide will help you take action to:
Create
Enhance
Maintain
Alongside the guidance provided, specialist advice should be sought and further information consulted. Education sector case studies are featured and there are comprehensive signposts to further information, resources and useful organisations.
A large proportion of the development comprises of grass covered surfaces, including natural sports pitches, parkland grassland, amenity grassland and reinforced grass...
The creation of a fresh water pond and swale, with a variety of planting communities including fringe/edge planting, wetland/grassland planting and shallow and deep water...
A mixed native wildflower meadow was planted to encourage a diverse range of flora and fauna. Mixed mass bulb planting provides a colourful display which blooms from spring...
The wide variety of trees and plant species on campus are an important factor in enhancing and preserving a high level of biodiversity. A large proportion of trees on campus are...
The biodiversity value of the campus is considered a priority by the University, so conservation is of the upmost importance and all development projects carried out on campus...
The Biodiversity Index is an interactive web-based tool that enables people with little knowledge of ecology to do a rapid but scientific assessment of the level of plant...
Dr Duncan Westbury, Institute of Science & the Environment The University of Worcester is committed to enhancing biodiversity on the land it manages through its Strategic...
At the University of Stirling, students are encouraged to undertake projects focused on campus issues. This provides a wide range of project opportunities, stimulates action on...
Growhampton is a sustainability initiative with a big focus on food growing. It was established in September 2013 (initially funded by the NUS Student Green Fund) and is...
The quad at the centre of the Michael Smith Building has been established as a biodiversity garden, including a large pond, raised flower beds, wild flower mixtures and areas of...
The cityscape that provides the backdrop for the University of Leicester is characterised by many various types of buildings both old and new with the main campus home to...
The University of Hertfordshire is unique amongst its competitors as the proud owner of a field centre located in rural Hertfordshire, called Bayfordbury Campus. Bayfordbury...
To meet the needs of an expanding leading university, the University of Cambridge has commenced the development of a site covering around 150 hectares in North West Cambridge....
In the past 2 years SRUC have planted over 800m of new hedges and drawn up a maintenance plan for our hedges that will allow a variety of growth types, increasing their habitat...
Scouts from the local Scout group have came on site and carried out a bug survey in a range of habitats on the course. The information from the survey was uploaded onto the Opal...
The golf course features 3 ponds and all of which contain healthy populations of Palmate newts, frogs and toads along with many more water invertebrates. The ponds have all been...
The golf course has an environmental working group called the GEO steering group. The responsibility of this group is to work together in strengthening the course’s Golf...
The golf course has introduced wildflowers to a number of sites on the course and we plan to continue this practice each year. At the moment we have just under 1Ha of meadows....
The golf course is often left with pallets from deliveries and these began to build up in quantity. Greenkeeping students practical classes used the pallets and other waste...
The golf course has been lucky enough to be awarded two tree packs from the Woodland Trust comprising over 800 native trees. The trees have been planted on the golf course by...