STUDENTS ‘DIG’ THEIR NEW WILDLIFE WORK
University campus turned into a haven for nature
STUDENTS are going ‘wild’ at university by transforming their campus into a haven for nature.
Wild Staffs is one of the schemes to be funded through a new £50,000 pot from Staffordshire University’s ‘sustain Staffs’ campaign.
Now a group of students and staff are busy planting hedgerows, trees, wildflower meadows and green walls.
They are also creating a wildlife and wellbeing garden. And there will even be bird box cams so the public can watch footage of bird life streamed on the university’s website.
Wild Staffs has been awarded around £5,000 funding.
Other successful bids include a plan to create a ‘15-minute campus’, where people can log on to an interactive map, put their location, and plot a route for a 15-minute cycle or walk.
And there will also be a ‘great green gathering’ on June 5 – an online festival featuring talks, quizzes, tips and activities on environmental themes.
Dr Eleanor Atkins, below, a lecturer in ecology with biology and biomedical sciences, said: “Wild Staffs was the students’ idea. We want to create green corridors for biodiversity.”
Eventually, the plan is to link these corridors from the university’s existing nature reserve up to Hanley Park.
Eleanor believes the project has wider significance, adding: “Over the last century, the UK has lost over 97 per cent of its wildflower meadows and, in the last 40 years alone, has lost 16 per cent of hedgerows to removal and neglect. Urban areas are even more acutely affected, with isolated pockets of nature separated by large areas of built-up land and infrastructure.”
One of the new hedges is being laid near the Sir Stanley Matthews Sports Centre at the Leek Road site. It is being grown from hawthorn and a mixture of other species.
Biological science student Jasmine Barton, who is specialising in ecology and environmental management, has been part of the team digging and planting.
The 28-year-old, from Biddulph, said: “We are applying a lot of ecology theories and looking at how to improve habitats.
“We decided we also wanted to a wildlife and wellbeing garden so we can bring wildlife closer to the students.”
She and other students from her course will also be doing placements with Wild Staffs.
Emily Baughn, aged 23, who lives in Shelton, said: “I’m hoping to be here every day, whatever the weather.”
Fellow biological science student Michael Wild will also be living up to his name.
The 21-year-old, who lives in Stoke, said: “It’s more the experience. It’s wanting to know how to do it and why we are doing it.”