Within the Campus Management Climate Action Policy we have included a commitment to 'Engage in practices in both managing the existing estate and building new aspects that increase green spaces across the estate and promote healthy and biodiverse ecosystems.'
Measures and Targets
2018/19 Baseline 273 species on site
Target to increase species and/or provision by 20% by 2030
How the University interacts with and impacts its surrounding environment is potentially significant within the ISO systems and a holistic climate action approach.
There are several activities in place which should positively impact the natural environment around the University campus, including the accelerated Campus Plan which will introduce significant new green spaces and the ongoing 3-year Grounds Management Plan, which includes diversifying planting, creation of wildflower areas and encouragement of both flora and fauna onto the Estate.
The University has previously undertaken annual biodiversity surveys to assess the number of species on campus, which will continue to be undertaken as a measure of success of these schemes and data used to set ambitious biodiversity targets within the Accelerated Campus Plan.
Objectives
Actions for the 2024/25 year include:
Conducting the 2024 biodiversity survey
Incorporate results into Campus Plan targets and remain on track to deliver
Continue to apply the Grounds Management Plan aligned with outcomes of biodiversity survey
We have identified the green infrastructure baseline of our estate and developed an action plan for delivery which clearly demonstrates the benefits. We also regularly review green infrastructure on popular student routes into the city and between campuses to identify improvements.
Ecology Survey
In August 2023, Sheffield Hallam University commissioned an external ecologist from ELM Ecology to conduct a Phase 1 Habitat Survey across three main sites: City Campus, Collegiate Campus and Bawtry Road Sports Park. The survey was conducted in order to assess the abundance of species at each site, changes in the state of those sites and to engender recommendations regarding the treatment of each site from an ecological viewpoint.
Surveys have been undertaken since 2017, with Collegiate and City Campuses being typically surveyed on an annual basis and Bawtry Road every two years, therefore previous data used in this report reflects this. However, there was an ‘hiatus’ in the conducting of surveys due to the Covid-19 pandemic with this one undertaken in 2023 being the second one conducted since 2019.
All reports and recommendations have been shared with key stakeholders to feed into the grounds planning processes and estate developments.
Below is a graph showing recorded species on each survey:
