Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Silver Award for Happy Hedgehogs
In December, we submitted evidence towards a Hedgehog Friendly Campus award.
This has now been reviewed and we have achieved a Silver award!
Hedgehog Friendly Campus is a UK-wide award scheme funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Teams of staff and students work to apply hedgehog-friendly actions in and around their university, college, or school. Although they are loved by many, hedgehogs are a declining population which is why we are trying to use our Headingley campus as a safe area with plenty of habitats.
This year, we have put in pond ramps to ensure that hedgehogs can get out of the ponds if they fall in. Pond ramps can be made in a variety of ways. We have opted to use pieces of wood however, you could also create a pond ramp with a slope of rocks.
We worked with Grounds Maintenance to set a target for the reduction of Herbicides. This will reduce the number of chemicals we are using that can negatively affect the health of hedgehogs and other wildlife. We are also reducing the number of times we spray each year, leaving longer periods between spraying.
We leave trees as 5m monoliths, for woodpeckers and insects to live in, and the remaining branches are stacked up around this, as log piles for hedgehogs and other wildlife.
Across our Headingly campus, we have a range of hedgehog friendly species, such as pyracantha, cotoneaster, buddleia, snowberry, bluebells, and large areas of wildflower. We also leave the banking behind James Graham for wildflower and have created a new wildflower area next to one of our football pitches.
We have also started to leave some areas uncut, or with little intervention. The area behind Cavendish is now only tidied up once a year. We have large areas of our woodlands, that are left to brambles such as the far corner of the bottom woodland, near South Lodge, which has been untouched for some years, apart from important tree works. We also leave some areas of Queenswood as wild as possible, with dense bramble cover.
We will soon start planning how we will achieve Gold next year. If you would like to get involved, please let us know by emailing e.butler@leedsbeckett.ac.uk or sustainability@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Eloise Butler
Hello, I am Eloise. I am currently a Level 6 BA(Hons) Business Studies student. I have previously undertaken a placement year working on the Sustainability team at Leeds Beckett University.
