Skip to main content
Greenspace Movement
Durham Cathedral and Castle Skyline

Nature Positive: We're Highly Commended in the International Green Gown Awards

15 October 2024
Share page:
a large brick building with a metal fence

We're delighted to announce that our project entitled 'Enhancing Biodiversity at Durham' has been Highly Commended for the Nature Positive category in the International Green Gown Awards 2024. Ian Armstrong, Biodiversity Manager in our Estates and Facilities Directorate, explains more about the project and how it supports our sustainability strategy.

What is biodiversity at Durham and why is it important?

In simple terms biodiversity is the variety of life on earth. Sadly, biodiversity across the world is under threat and due to human pressure, is much reduced. At Durham, we are committed to conserving and enhancing as much biodiversity as possible throughout our campus. To do this, we are committed to a biodiversity strategy for period 2022-2032 that outlines actions to reverse biodiversity loss across our campus and where possible, reverse the decline in habitats and species.

How does our biodiversity strategy benefit those on campus and in the local area?

Biodiversity gives multiple benefits to multiple communities across the world. On a truly international scale, biodiversity can be a major influence on natural resources such as, filtration for clean water, flood alleviation, new medicines, pollinators for food production and soil conservation. On a more local level, we are an important part of that bigger picture. Our commitment to enhancing biodiversity means that we can help by creating more resilient landscapes that are better adapted to global warming while biodiversity enhancements will greatly improve mental wellbeing not only of those that study and work at the university but will also contribute to the wellbeing of local communities that use the University estate as a place for quiet contemplation and recreational enjoyment. This in turn creates a sense of pride and place in the places where we work, study and live.

How can students get involved in our work to enhance biodiversity at Durham?

Students can help us in a variety of ways. Simply recording what you see, where you see it and when you saw it is a tremendous help for us to monitor what wildlife and habitats we have. iNaturalist is an excellent way of recording our biodiversity and provides us with important information so that we can determine how successful and effective our management for biodiversity is and allows us to target specific areas of the estate for coordinated management. In the not-too-distant future, we plan to set up Durham University Nature Rangers (DUNR). This will facilitate student involvement and allow them to become involved with nature conservation tasks and projects. It won’t be just simply volunteering but will be based on an award system whereby, those involved will receive gold silver and bronze awards for time spent and the tasks and projects that they do. The aim is not just to gain extra help in undertaking practical tasks but will provide students with much needed practical task experience that they will be able to add to their CVs for future employment opportunities.

What are some of our biodiversity highlights from recent years?

Already we have made great progress towards our target of biodiversity net gain by 2032 and recently we were successful in achieving a Hedgehog Friendly Campus accreditation for our work towards creating an excellent habitat for hedgehogs on our estate. We were delighted to receive the ‘Gold Award’ and this is great credit for our approach. Another example of our recent commitment is our project to re-introduce Black Poplar (Populus nigra), the most endangered native tree in Britain. Through monitoring we have identified a staggering 983 species across our estate and have become a founding member of the Nature Positive Universities Alliance and we're ranked as one of the most wildlife-friendly universities in the UK in a 2023 study by Ark Wildlife.

What are your hopes for biodiversity at Durham in future?

The future is an extremely exciting one for biodiversity at Durham University. Over the next decade we will make great strides in undertaking a great range of ecological projects that will enhance biodiversity throughout the 251 hectares of our estate for wildlife. We see the future of our estate as not just being one of the best educational establishments in the world but also one of the most biodiverse and sustainable in the world. We plan a future university estate teaming with species to such an extent that it will form a kind of nature reserve and such that we can be a shining example for other universities to follow our lead. A future where there were once closely mown grass lawns, replaced with orchid rich wildflower grasslands where great numbers of insects, butterflies and bumble bees move around on mass and subsequently providing important feeding opportunities for a vast array of birds and bats. A future where we will see the return of swifts and house sparrows breeding on university buildings. Of course, it would be nice to see a future where rarities such as green winged orchid and lesser butterfly orchids are reintroduced and are a common site, where harvest mice nest in the meadows and the majestic red kite nests in our woods.

What does it mean to be shortlisted for the Green Gown Awards 2024?

This is an amazing achievement and reward for the incredible work that has been done by Durham University. Being shortlisted is great recognition and maintains a high standard for us to aim for in future years.

Find out more

This is the image alt text