Let’s talk Biodiversity loss: what is it and how is it affecting our campus?

While walking around campus, I am sure you will have come across one of the many cute creatures that inhabit the outdoor spaces of our university. It may be the ducks in the Roger Stevens pond that catch your attention on the way to lectures, the hedgehogs or most likely the adored bunnies that roam around the green. These different animals make up the essential biodiversity that keeps not only our campus ecosystems balanced but the world’s. Notwithstanding the effects of climate change however, this biodiversity is at risk. 

The World Wildlife Organisation defines biodiversity as all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area, not just animals but also plants and fungi. These organisms then work together within our ecosystems to maintain and support all forms of life, essentially everything that we need ranging across food, water, medicine and clean air. Our animals are such a crucial part to keeping us as a species happy and healthy as well as the planet we live on. But still, the ever-growing climate crisis is violently reducing wildlife populations in the United Kingdom. The United Nations has established the United Kingdom in recent years as having one of the worst biodiversity loss problems in the whole of the western world; only having roughly half of its biodiversity left. This figure is far below a global average of 75%, which still is not deemed a ‘safe limit’, no country should be exceeding the 90% break line. Not only is this a cause for concern for the animals whose habitats and populations are being destroyed but also for our society who are dependent on them for regulatory ecological functioning. 

In order to spread awareness and begin to combat biodiversity loss, we must first establish its causes. The UK Parliament’s scientific advisors have concluded that the factors of biodiversity loss in order of importance are as such: changes in land and sea use, climate change, pollution, direct exploitation of natural resources and the impact of invasive species. These issues might seem daunting if you are just one person trying to make a difference, but by supporting biodiversity through institutions such as your university, one can help create a striking difference to the animals living on your campus. 

At Leeds university the three main species impacted by biodiversity loss are the bees, hedgehogs and rabbits. But the growing climate change and atypical weather dynamics are severely impacting our creatures and the way they support our university ecosystem. Taking the afamed campus bunnies for example, who have proved popular in the social sphere as many readers here are also likely followers of @Leedscampusrabbits but are also providing critical acts of grazing and burrowing on campus, nurturing the plant life and creating clean air. Their existence in our green spaces will be forever important to nature’s balance and their habitats must be preserved.

Whilst news of this may render many readers into a state of panic, Leeds students can take comfort in knowing that the University of Leeds ranks very highly in the country for supporting its biodiversity, being placed in the ‘Platinum Tier’ category for their policies, funding for wildlife foundations and ongoing biodiversity activities by the Ark Wildlife organisation. The university strives to nurture the varying species living on the grounds. Most notably, working with the hedgehog preservation society, to protect and track them as they roam. 

While the university works to improve the decline of biodiversity in Leeds, individual efforts are also needed. This can be achieved through multiple avenues such as supporting the universities local wildlife policies, taking part in local litter picks or even just educating yourself online, every effort matters to save the different animals on campus. Don’t hesitate to give our green spaces that extra bit of care, especially when the creatures that live there provide us with so much.

Words by Lucy Bysouth