Lancaster University has joined the Nature Positive Universities Alliance founded this UNEP and the University of Oxford in partnership with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The network aims to bring universities around the world to agree to pledges around protecting nature on their campuses, incorporating a biodiversity baseline, targets, actions and annual reporting.

Lancaster’s beautiful 560-acre campus plays a huge part in our strategic sustainability goals. Sustainability is at the heart of our campus plan with more than 25,000 trees, 10km worth of hedgerows, new buildings that reduce environmental impact, our ECOHub allotment and orchard, and plenty of green spaces to relax.

This year, Lancaster has been awarded a Green Flag award for the eleventh year in a row - the international benchmark for the quality of green spaces. Some of the initiatives the University has undertaken this year to protect this green space are:

• Our 10-year Woodland Plan – 6000 trees have been planted on campus this year to increase biodiversity
• Pollinator-Planting initiative - 22,000 native spring bulbs have just been planted to provide opportunities for pollinators
• Rolling out biodiversity net gain to ensure that any project impact is negated. For the ongoing Engineering building, we are planting 1,000 native woodland trees.

Our campus is also 'Silver Accredited' by the national Biodiversity Programme; Hedgehog Friendly Campus and has NoMow areas to encourage wildflowers and biodiversity.

Ian Sturzaker, Landscape Manager, said: “The University greenspaces make up the highest percentage of the overall University estate and help to provide a multifunctional role. They are managed by the grounds team to offer a range of benefits for the environment, and wildlife and to support the physical and social benefits for staff, students and visitors. The mosaic of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands are maintained by the team with the main aim of supporting wildlife, connecting habitats and enabling an interactive user experience through trails, paths and connected wildlife corridors.”

Find out more about our biodiversity initiatives on our sustainability webpages.