Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of species that make up our natural world. All these different living organisms – animals, plants, fungi and bacteria – live together in ecosystems, which are communities of living things and their environment interacting together. All parts of these ecosystems are interconnected, depending on each other, and the earth is made up of a series of connected ecosystems. Our ecosystems survive in a delicate balance and small changes can impact biodiversity.

Changes caused by humans to the environment, including climate change, land-use changes, and the introduction of polluting substances and non-native species, have all had an effect on ecosystems globally. This has resulted in wide-scale loss of biodiversity. As humans we rely on biodiversity and therefore, we need to prevent and reverse biodiversity loss, and support the recovery of our ecosystems to enable our plants and animals to survive.

What we’re doing

Biodiversity Delivery Plan

In 2020 LJMU declared a climate emergency and in 2022 created a Climate Action Plan. This plan made a commitment to developing a Biodiversity Plan to help increase species biodiversity across our estate by 2035. We are currently finalising this Plan which will lay out our approach to meeting this commitment, with targeted actions over the next five years that will:

• improve habitat quality
• increase greenspace provision
• improve the university’s climate resilience

Through this we will also contribute to nature recovery in the Liverpool City Region and improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our community by increasing access to nature.

In preparation for enacting the Biodiversity Delivery Plan we have undertaken a baselining exercise for all the habitats present on our university estate. This means we can understand our estate’s current biodiversity value so we can make meaningful improvements that we can monitor.

Byrom Street Green Walls

We have installed green walls outside our Byrom Street city campus. Green walls have multifunctional benefits including:

These are our first green walls on campus, so we are monitoring them closely to see if we can expand them further in the future.

Outdoor Learning Zones and Research Gardens

We have an outdoor learning zone at John Lennon Art and Design Building, where local primary schools from across the region are able to come to give young children an opportunity to learn about nature, engage with the environment, and undertake a range of outdoor activities. Our education courses also use this space to teach modules, so our students can develop the skills to deliver safe and exciting outdoor learning activities such as den building, creative play, safe fire lighting, and foraging.

We also have teaching and research-based wildlife gardens at Byrom Street which provide students with on-campus habitat types to learn surveying skills. They include features such as hedgehog houses, insect hotels, enhancements for birds, and bird hides (observation structures), so that students can monitor species interactions with the habitats.

Green Roofs

We have green roofs on John Lennon Art and Design Building and the Cherie Booth Building at Byrom Street. These roofs are not accessible but provide important multifunctional benefits including supporting biodiversity, providing building insultation, helping to slow rainwater runoff, and reducing the urban heat island effect.

Growing Spaces

We have two growing spaces on campus: the herb garden at Byrom Street which is used by our Nutrition students; and the vegetable patches and raised flower beds at the Tithebarn Building which are used for recreation. The vegetable patches are currently managed by a group of staff volunteers, and we’re looking for volunteers to help manage the flower beds. If you’re a member of staff or a student and would like to find out more or get involved, email the team at sustainability@ljmu.ac.uk.

Hedgehog Houses

We have installed hedgehog houses in several areas across campus and on our wider estate. We will be monitoring the uptake of these and looking to see how we can make our campus even more hedgehog friendly! If you’re interested in working towards taking on the Hedgehog Friendly Campus award programme next year, email the team at sustainability@ljmu.ac.uk.