Biodiversity near Oxstalls campus thrives following EU-funded re-wilding project

After many months away, we are looking forward to welcoming back students, staff and visitors to our beautiful campuses with their many sustainability features including rich biodiversity.

Following a landscaping project in Summer 2019, partially funded by the by the EU European Regional Development Fund, biodiversity around the Oxstalls Campus in Gloucester is thriving, with wildflowers including poppies, daisies and corn marigolds stretching across much of the area.

The improvement project has re-wilded the land that follows the line of Wotton Brook between the southern Oxstalls campus boundary and the northern Plock Court Wetland Reserve, linking these two areas of University of Gloucestershire property with a natural verge and meadow. It focused on improving the biodiversity of four specific areas on site, by replanting hedgerows, establishing a linear wildflower meadow and widening the bank of the Wotton Brook to create a more varied waterside habitat. As a result, the project has improved wildlife habitats and strengthened the ecological links throughout the site. 

 These biodiversity actions at Oxstalls add to the features across our campuses, which are also home to many rare and endangered tree species, a colony of swifts and award winning hedgehog friendly features. We were excited to see that two local deer also took advantage of the lockdown to spend some time visiting our Francis Close Hall site!

 Find out more about the sustainability features of our campuses by clicking here.