Wildlife award success for green teams at Cranfield University

The university was recognised for its achievements at the 2018 Wildlife Gardening at Work Awards.

Cranfield won in the ‘Overall Winner – Best Wildlife Garden’ and ‘Best Employee Engagement in a Wildlife Garden’ categories. The awards recognise the efforts made by corporate members of the Wildlife Trust in the region to look after the wildlife in their area.

The judge was particularly impressed with Cranfield’s efforts in engaging staff and students in the ‘Honey Harvesting Experience’ day held last September.

Gareth Ellis, energy and environment manager at Cranfield, said: “We are thrilled to receive this recognition for the ongoing efforts put in by our green team and groundskeepers, Nurture.

“Looking after the wildlife on campus is crucial for maintaining biodiversity. We encourage staff and students to join us through organised activities including our Spring Watch campaigns, biodiversity walks and honey harvesting.”

The campus is a hot spot for biodiversity due to its rural setting among a habitat of scrubland, woodland, wetland and farmland. Each of the areas has its own environment action plan which supports their ‘living laboratory’ philosophy.

Areas of the campus are also devoted to wildflower plots which support natural biodiversity and a ‘wildflower maze’ has recently been installed near the children’s playground.