Useful links
Biodiversity and open spaces
Protecting and improving our biodiversity
We are committed to growing and supporting diverse flora and fauna on our campuses by protecting and improving the ecosystems that attract interconnected plants, fungi and wildlife species.
Targets
- establish a Biodiversity Management Plan (pdf, 4.6MB) and baselines to set biodiversity targets and approved indicators for all campuses and farms by 2025
- enable 30% canopy cover by 2030
Initiatives
Indigenous landscape initiatives
The Walanga Wingara Mura Design Principles (pdf, 3.2MB) were introduced in 2016 to bring more Indigenous fauna and flora to the University’s campuses.
Since then, the Open Spaces Team have been continually sourcing local flora for our gardens and green spaces. There are currently more than 500,000 native plants, shrubs and grasses used across our campuses, and of more than 2000 trees, approximately 1400 are native.
Indigenous landscape areas, such as the Transient Garden on Fisher Road are developed using symbols and patterns to reflect Indigenous gathering places and original natural environments.
Tree planting at Arthursleigh
The University has worked with Greening Australia for a number of years to plant more that 140,000 trees at the University’s Arthursleigh Farm in the NSW Southern Highlands, which is used for teaching and research in pasture agronomy and animal science.
In 2021 alone, the University Infrastructure and Arthursleigh Farm teams have planted 20,000 new trees covering 75 hectares as part of this project. This effort was supported by AstraZeneca’s pledge to plant 25 million trees globally as part of a carbon-sequestering project.