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The University of Exeter BioBlitz was a great success and for more information about their Birds and Bees Campaign, see this news article published on the Exeter News website: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/student/title,105231,en.html

So we’re off!

“So we’re off! The University of Exeter got the Mini-BioBlitzes off to a fantastic debut with Nick Baker on the megaphone and loads of eager students ready to scour the campus for life of all kinds. I joined a fungi walk as I’ve recently been trying to learn to gather more wild food and was on the lookout for edible mushrooms. The huge variety of species present on Exeter’s beautiful campus have mainly made me realise my own ineptitude and that much learning is still required before I get out there and poison myself… Next up for me was sweep-netting on Exeter’s verdant meadows and in addition to hiding, running and falling over a lot of our young sweep-netters, managed to catch a wide variety of butterflies, spiders and many-legged beasts. We then realised that all of a sudden the three hours were up and everyone gathered back at base camp to share their discoveries and being in Devon, eat cream teas.

A massive thanks to Harriet, Nick, Dale and all their team of volunteers for getting the Mini-BioBlitzes off to such a great start and we don’t have to wait long for our next BioBlitz action! Tomorrow I’m off to Norwich for the University of East Anglia’s Mini-BioBlitz, which will launch their larger Campus Conservation Project.  This will provide opportunities for many to get involved with preserving the biodiversity of their university grounds for years to come, so I’ll see you there!”

Will Hinchliffe, National BioBlitz Officer

 

Bats found at the University of Exeter BioBlitz

 

University of Exeter BioBlitz

This October, the University of Exeter is launching its Birds & Bees Campaign (Biodiversity Enhancement Plan) in partnership with Devon Wildlife Trust, Exeter Wild City, Ambios and other community stakeholders with a Bioblitz on the 9^th of October.

The BioBlitz will be taking place from 1 – 4pm, meeting at the Laver Building, North Park Road, University of Exeter.

The campaign supports the University’s wider Environmental Sustainability Strategy and links in with the world leading research in Climate change and Sustainable Futures and Environmental Sustainability. The launch purposefully coincides with the International Year of Biodiversity.

The University of Exeter is well known for its stunning spacious landscaped campus, It is also one of the UK’s top Universities and is currently building some new facilities”. The University’s aim is to restore and improve the natural habitats and to create wildlife corridors that will link up with other green spaces in the City of Exeter to allow wildlife to permeate through the built environment. At the same time we want to engage our students, staff and wider community with the biological diversity on campus and create a community of practice including student, citizen and specialist (staff) volunteers. This will not only help us to gather valuable data, but will also tap into the enjoyment that can be derived from engagement with the natural environment.

The Bioblitz on the 9^th of October will bring students, staff and the public together on Streatham Campus to find, identify and record as many species as possible. Wildlife presenter and naturalist Nick Baker, a former University of Exeter student, will lead a team of experts, including some of his former lecturers, to help to identify plants, fungi, insects and other species.

The Bioblitz is kindly sponsored by the Bristol Natural History Consortium and Vinspired