Nature Positive is a term that refers to the reversing of nature loss and encourages ecosystem recovery. The Nature Positive Universities network is comprised of over 500 higher educational institutions worldwide who have all committed to protecting biodiversity by signing the Nature Positive Pledge. The network was jointly founded by the University of Oxford and the UN Environment Programme in December 2022. If you’re interested in finding out more about Nature Positive and how as a student you can get involved, keep reading!
Image: The aim of the Nature Positive Universities group; reversing the biodiversity loss curve. Credit: Nature Positive Universities.
What is the student ambassador programme?
If you are a student and interested in the Nature Positive ethos, check out the Student Ambassador Programme. Every year, Nature Positive Universities welcome students to apply for this program, giving them the opportunity to play a part in #GenerationRestoration while collaborating with students from other universities on a global scale.
The programme is an exciting blend of practical and collaborative activities, with no two days being the same!
Some benefits you will gain upon joining the programme:
Experience volunteering with mentors at University of Oxford
A chance to make a difference on our campus
Networking with a global community of environmental activists
Resources and training to help you organise events and activities
A certificate documenting your role
A chance to exercise your personal skills such as social media, communications, design, organising events, translation and biological identification and survey techniques
Image: Nature Positive student ambassadors volunteering in a field. Credit: Nature Positive Universities.
How can I apply?
Applying for the programme only takes 10 minutes and could seriously boost your CV, if you are interested in working within the environmental or urban planning sector.
Sign-ups for the 2024/2025 Nature Positive Student Ambassador Programme are currently open and the deadline to apply is the 10th November 2024.
To find out more on what the sustainable campus team are doing to fulfil the Nature Positive Pledge, check out our blog post on Biodiversity Net Gain, or visit the Biodiversity page on our website!
Biodiversity is a complex term with a range of definitions and contestations and a powerful reach across environmental work, legislation, and popular culture (Callaway, 2020). Understandings of the concept include the variety of different species in an ecosystem, the nature and intensity of their interactions, and the roles each species plays. These understandings are complex because biodiversity is complex (a fuller guide and definition can be found in our introduction blog here). However, across these definitions a key takeaway is biodiversity’s central importance to the health of both ourselves and the environment (Perrings, 2014; Bonneuil and Fressoz, 2016). Due to this, preserving biodiversity is crucial to supporting ourselves and the natural world and a recent approach to achieving this is biodiversity net gain.
Image: The sunshades of the University’s Ridley 2 Building shield teaching spaces amongst the greenery of Lover’s Lane. Credit: Chris Bishop.
What is Biodiversity Net Gain?
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a policy approach that was adopted by the government in 2021 and came into force in February this year. Unlike previous legislation, this approach stipulates that development projects must create an increase or improvement of biodiversity, rather than just preventing a loss. Therefore, if executed well, this legally-binding process could lead to an ever-expanding spread of biodiversity across our cities. There’s plenty of work involved in achieving these improvements in a meaningful way, however (Bull and Brownlie, 2017).
Following BNG, the first step for any development project is to establish a record, or baseline, of how many biodiverse habitats there are on the relevant site(s). This method, focussing on habitats, is just one approach to baselining and we’re working to gather this data alongside other baselining efforts we’re making to meet the University’s Nature Positive Pledge. There are Lots of things to consider when measuring this data as, when it comes to biodiversity, human impacts and ecosystem complexity make it hard to measure everything (Allard et al., 2023). Consequently, to get as informed an idea as possible of the ecosystems on our estates, we’re focussing not only on the presence of habitats, but also on factors including the campus’s physical context in the city and the types of species that need extra support in our urban environment.
Collaborations with institutions including the City Council, Northumbria University, North East Ambulance service, and the Newcastle NHS Trust have proven important in this process. An example of the power of these partnerships is the Newcastle Biodiversity Group (of which all the above are part), which has helped to join up biodiversity efforts including mapping species migration and habitat corridors across the city. This work has led to the planning of a series of green infrastructure opportunity areas and biodiversity enhancement corridors across the city – and our campus is part of both.
This work is important as, when we then look to improve our estate and add new facilities, such as our cutting-edge Stephenson Building refurb or the sector-leading Health Innovation Neighbourhood, we have an informed view of how best to deliver BNG on these developments. Drawing on expertise from across the region, we can link our efforts to work such as the Newcastle and north Tyneside Biodiversity Action Plan, and, through this, ensure the maximum possible gain in habitat quality, while meeting the legislative requirements of BNG.
Image: The University’s ‘bat house’ shelter for roosts of local Pipistrelle bats. The shelter is pictured under the shade of a nearby tree at the Park View Student Village. Credit: Charlotte Robson.
A huge thank you to my colleague Charlotte for her help with this blog and all the amazing work she does on biodiversity. While we don’t yet have any case-studies of BNG being implemented on campus, we’re always working hard to help improve biodiversity on our estates. You can read about the special care taken to preserve trees as part of our recent Stephenson Building refurbishment here, or learn more about our biodiversity work on our website and our other blog posts.
References
Allard, A., Carina, H., Keskital, E., and Brown, A. (2023) Monitoring Biodiversity: Combining Environmental and Social Data. Taylor and Francis International Publishing.
Bonneuil, C., Fressoz, J-B. (2016) The Shock of the Anthropocene: The Earth, History and Us. Fernbach, D. (translator). 1st edition. New York, N.Y.: Verso Books.
Bull, J.W., and Brownlie, S. (2017) ‘The transition from No Net Loss to a Net Gain of biodiversity is far from trivial’, Oryx. 51 (1). pp. 53–59.
Callaway, E. (2020). Eden’s Endemics: Narratives of Biodiversity on Earth and Beyond. Charlottesville, V.A.: University of Virginia Press.
Perrings, C. (2014) Our Uncommon Heritage: Biodiversity Change, Ecosystem Services, and Human Wellbeing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
This week is national Hedgehog Awareness Week – a celebration of the role these wonderful animals play in our endemic ecosystems, and a call to action to help protect them from the threats they face. According to the Mammal Society, the Western European Hedgehog has been vulnerable to extinction in Britain since 2020. The species’ continual decline in Britain has been suffered despite its numbers remaining stable in much of the rest of Europe. So, what can we, both as individuals and as a University, do to support hedgehogs at home and on campus to restore them to the healthiness of their European cousins?
Image: shade beneath the boughs of a tree on the edge of Claremont Quad. Credit: John Donoghue.
The challenges
Hedgehog numbers in rural areas have been dropping for many years and, according to the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, have declined by 30-75% since 2000, depending on the area of the UK. Population decline in urban areas is slower – likely aided by awareness raising campaigns by organisations such as the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), but hedgehogs still face many challenges here, including:
Increasing traffic volume making streets more perilous,
Habitat loss and fragmentation as hedges and verges are lost or overly mown and gardens are cut off from one another by fences with no paths through,
Disruptions to Autumn nest building due to garden clearing and bonfire night celebrations,
The continued use of garden pesticides and poisons.
How we can help
As part of our biodiversity remit, we in the Sustainability Team have been working to ensure that our campus is as friendly as possible to a variety of species, including hedgehogs, and we’ve been running awareness raising campaigns for several years now. Accordingly, the University’s Sustainable Construction Specification stipulates that all new projects must create a biodiversity net gain and our colleagues in the Grounds Team work hard all year round to create quality green spaces across our campus. In addition to this, we’ve collaborated with the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences to host a number of fundraising events for hedgehog conservation which have raised hundreds of pounds!
Hedgehogs don’t need too much to thrive in our urban environments and even minor interventions made by individuals in their gardens or allotments can make a big difference in improving and expanding habitats. The Hedgehog Street campaign recommends a range of actions you can take to support your local hedgehog populations, including:
Creating small holes in garden fences to safely connect gardens,
Leaving a corner of your garden or allotment wild and undisturbed to provide hiding places,
Clearing away any old gardening netting and litter from green spaces,
Avoiding chemicals (such as pesticides, poisons, and weedkillers),
Becoming a Hedgehog champion through Hedgehog Street.
More ideas can be found here and you can also learn how to build a Hedgehog house with this guide by the Woodland Trust. If you find a hedgehog that is in distress or may have been orphaned, please contact the BHPS who can provide guidance and a list of independent hedgehog rescue centres across the UK.
Image: a person sits on a bench amid the sun dappled greenery of Claremont Quad. Credit: Chris Bishop.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to consider biodiversity in our urban environment! If you’re lucky enough to have a garden or allotment please do consider how you can make it more friendly for a variety of plant and animal species. Plus, if you’re interested in learning more about biodiversity on campus and beyond, have a look at our website and our blogs on biodiversity, bees, the UN Biodiversity Conference, and sustainable agriculture!
