Biodiversity

Leaves on a tree

The University is home to an array of wildlife; there are numerous badger setts, hedgehogs, kestrels, and muntjacs.

Bees are a welcome inhabitant of the campus helping to pollinate our fruit, plants, and trees. The University apiary is home to between 6-10 colonies of honeybees. The primary aim of the apiary is to support the declining bee populations and ensure the health and well-being of the bees in our care.

Student and staff volunteers and the Gardens Team have monitored species on campus over the past year, and they have discovered the following:

  • 7 species of bumblebees
  • 17 species of butterfly (and 345 sightings in 2022)
  • 23 species of birds in Holywell Wood
  • 50 species of plants in Holywell Wood and 50 in Burleigh Wood

In March 2023 Ark Wildlife recognised the Univeristiy as one of the UK’s leading higher education institutions for looking after wildlife, meeting 100% of their “platinum tier” requirements.

Managing Biodiversity on Campus

The University commits to promoting biodiversity on the grounds with our Biodiversity Action Plan and Woodland Management Plan. We are also part of the Hedgehog Friendly Campus initiative, a nationwide project set up by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to help bring hedgehogs back from the brink of extinction. Last year we earned the Bronze Award, and we are currently aiming toward Silver accreditation in the near future.

To manage, protect and enhance our biodiverse campus the University has established Biodiversity Working Group. The remit of this group is to develop and steer delivery of the Biodiversity Action Plan and the Woodland Management Plan.

How to Get Involved

We actively encourage student and staff engagement in biodiversity on campus through our Hedgehog Friendly Campus initiatives, butterfly and bumblebee transects, and participation in our Biodiversity Working Group and LU Campus Wilding Group.

Students can also join Loughborough Students’ Union’s Landscape and Gardening Society (LAGS) which has a garden with vegetables, fruit trees, and soft fruit bushes, as well as flowers and herbs, all grown in an environmentally friendly way to encourage wildlife and pollinators.

Our contribution to local wildlife is also evident in the opportunities for staff and students to participate in wildlife activities, such as guided woodlands tours, Fruit Routes harvest events, and conservation volunteering opportunities.

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