Goal 15 - Life on Land
Protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of land ecosystems. Reverse biodiversity loss and land degradation
Research
Researcher, Dr Leonardo de Sousa Miranda of Lancaster Environment Centre, is the winner of the 2023 Ramboll Foundation Award and a prize of 67,000 Euros. The funding will support his research of identifying priority areas for biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration in the Brazilian Amazon and assessing climate and land-use change impacts in the world’s largest rainforest.
Scientists from Lancaster Environment Centre are part of a project to look at the impact of solar farms on biodiversity. The project aims to demonstrate how solar farms could boost pollinator biodiversity compared to traditional farmland and provide recommendations for future solar farms to maximise biodiversity.
Lancaster Environment Centre have held a workshop in Ghana focussed on land use, land use change and forestry in Sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop provided a platform for policy makers and researchers to interact and identify priority areas where research could make the most impact and affect lives and livelihoods positively.
Teaching
New plant labs
A funding grant of almost £1m will help deliver new plant science research facilities at Lancaster University. The funding will be used to set up new facilities at Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) to study how plants respond to different environmental conditions and inspire the next generation of plant scientists.
Campus life
Green Flag Award
Our outdoor spaces on campus have received the Green Flag Award for the thirteenth year in a row – the international benchmark for the quality of green spaces.
Hedgehog Friendly Campus
Our campus is 'Gold Accredited' by the national Biodiversity Programme; Hedgehog Friendly Campus. The campaign is coordinated by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and assesses institutions across the Higher Education sector, recognising sustainable processes and practices that protect hedgehogs and allow them to thrive.
Tree planting
Each year, student volunteers alongside the University Grounds and Maintenance team work together to plant thousands of Spring bulbs and trees across campus. This year so far, over 13,000 bulbs have been planted and over 2,000 new trees.