Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure

Biodiversity Action Plan  

The University is committed to protecting and enhancing the biodiversity of our campuses and land and engaging students, staff and the local community in order to educate and communicate the importance of biodiversity. 

Following the results of a comprehensive baseline ecological assessment of our Whiteknights campus, the University is in the process of creating and reviewing a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), to initially focus on our main UK campuses.  

The BAP will detail the opportunities, goals and targets to improve biodiversity on our UK campuses for the years ahead.   Some of the enhancements already planned for 2024-25 include; 

Nature Positive University Alliance 

The University continues to be a member of the Nature Positive University Alliance (NPUA), a global network of universities that have pledged to work towards a global “nature positive” goal in order to halt, prevent and reverse nature loss through addressing their own impacts and restoring ecosystems harmed by their activities. 

This year, several students from the University have become Student Ambassadors for NPUA, allowing them to join an international network of students wanting to make changes for nature on their campus. The students have had access to resources and training, volunteering opportunities and workshops to help them to make changes on campus and gain skills that will help them in their future careers.  

Thames Valley Science Park

Thames Valley Science Park (TVSP) is a University owned site which provides modern, flexible office space and cutting edge laboratories. Already home to Shinfield studios, the site is continuing to grow, with both the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens collaborating with the University to open storage facilities and laboratories at TVSP in the coming years. 

Natural History Museum

Plans have been approved by Wokingham Borough Council for the Natural History Museum development at the University of Reading-owned Thames Valley Science Park. The new state-of-the-art science and digitisation centre will enable major international scientific collaboration, generate big data and the application of cutting-edge analysis of the world’s most significant natural history collection. Over 27 million specimens, as well as over 5,500 metres of accompanying Natural History Museum Library material will be rehoused in the largest collections move for the Museum since the 1880s. Construction of the new facility is due to begin in early 2025, with completion expected by 2027. By 2031, the centre will be fully operational, equipped with cutting-edge laboratories, workspace for Museum scientists and purpose built storage for 28 million specimens.  

Kew Gardens Herbarium

A new, purpose-built herbarium at TVSP will become home to Kew’s ~8.5 million items to allow them to curate and care for their irreplaceable herbarium collections, provide capacity for growth and increase the collections use in botanical research and conservation. This new herbarium will provide state-of-the-art research, education and collaboration facilities that will allow Kew to continue their critical work to address the biodiversity and climate crises. It will also enable the public to engage with their collections and research to a previously unattainable extent. This collaboration between the University of Reading and Kew Gardens will also allow the University to develop its collections based research, benefitting both academic staff and students. 

Langley Mead 

Langley Mead is a University of Reading owned site consisting of over 18 hectares of countryside along the banks of the River Loddon, made accessible to the public for recreation and enjoyment as a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG). The site has been the subject of an ongoing project to restore agricultural land back to the biodiverse landscape that once existed there. The project is led by University of Reading as part of development proposals for the South of the M4 Strategic Development Location (SDL). It aims to create an area that provides a visually stimulating, attractive and educational environment for local people to visit and to enjoy.

Outdoor Learning Spaces

In collaboration with local schools, a number of outdoor learning spaces have been created and identified for use on the Langley Mead site.  An designated area of ancient woodland is to be used by local school groups to help those who struggle with engaging with learning in a classroom environment, to help promote more informal learning opportunities. A meadow classroom has also been created next to St Mary’s school to help enhance environmental education. The site benefits from the creation of a wildlife pond, bee mounds and habitat boxes for birds and hedgehogs to help promote and enhance local biodiversity. 

Meadow Restoration

Arable farmland at Langley Mead is being steadily restored into meadow habitats to help sustain local biodiversity. This transition has seen an increase in native wildflowers, and the subsequent return of a more diverse habitat for pollinators, birds and small mammals. To further promote meadow habitats and their importance to biodiversity, the Estates team at the University have been increasing awareness within the local community by offering learning opportunities and events on site, such as National Meadows Day on the 6th of July. This day allowed visitors to take a guided tour through the meadows at Langley Mead. There was also an information stall, self-guided walks and a wildlife activity sheet for children to ensure the day, and the environment, could be enjoyed by all. 

Ecological Surveys

The sites at Langley Mead are regularly surveyed and monitored by ecologists, to prove and ensure that any work conducted by our estates team on site, not only protects existing wildlife, but also enhances it. This has led to the protection of Ancient Woodland habitats and changes to mowing schedules to accommodate nesting birds. 

Campus and our courses

The School of Biological Sciences and the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development have both incorporated the University of Reading main campus into their teaching modules to allow students to study its various habitats and species. Plant samples from across campus are regularly used to support undergraduate and masters teaching, particularly for field surveys and plant identification, involving trees, grasses, sedges and wildflowers. Bird feeding stations have also been set up across campus for practical teaching and research purposes, and will be featured in the MSc Animal Survey and Assessment module for the 2024/25 academic year. 

BioBlitz 2024

Throughout June, staff and students from several University schools took part in the ICA Biodiversity Challenge. This challenge saw 19 ICA member campuses from across Europe monitor biodiversity, in the form of a BioBlitz, between the 2nd of May and 28th of June. The University of Reading placed 7th in the challenge, recording 935 species. You can see the full breakdown of our results here. 

Not only was this event a great way of monitoring the biodiversity across our campus, but it also had the added benefit of bringing together students and colleagues from across schools to make new connections. The group walks also had a positive impact on participants mental and physical wellbeing by allowing them to take time to walk around campus during the work day. Given this year's success, and the enthusiasm of participants to engage again next year, we hope in 2025 to take part on a larger scale, opening it up to wider staff, and students, covering more of the university's campuses and other locations.