Consultation on land set aside for nature
Learn about our 2022 consultation to set certain areas of campus land aside for nature. You can view the results and the different land usage maps we proposed at the time.
About the consultation
The consultation was about which areas of campus land may be suitable for setting aside for nature.
“Land set aside for nature” refers to areas of land that are either not managed or are managed at a low level to encourage nature to develop. This could involve passive rewilding, where management is removed to allow nature to decide how the habitat develops over time.
The consultation is now closed but you can read about the results.
Selecting land to be set aside for nature
In April 2022, we presented our finding that 38% of our campus is already set aside for nature. This is a significant portion of our land, and a great starting point. But we want to do more. Our Sustainability Strategy commits us to set a target to reach 40%, 45%, or 50% of campus land set aside for nature. We presented three hypothetical maps of areas that could be potentially set aside for nature to achieve each of these percentages.
In November and December 2022, we consulted with you on the areas set aside on these maps, and asked you to let us know if the areas identified as potentially being set aside for nature seemed right and if there were any areas we have missed that could potentially be added to the map as suitable for conversion.
You can read more about ‘land set aside for nature’ and how we categorise which areas of land qualify in our Biodiversity strategy and draft biodiversity policy [PDF. 436KB], where you will also find a glossary of biodiversity terms.
Why we’re doing this
In 2021, we set out our vision of working together to be the most biodiverse campus in the United Kingdom and published our Biodiversity strategy and draft biodiversity policy [PDF. 436KB]. The below maps and consultation form part of our work to reach that vision, by making changes to the amount of land set aside for nature on our campus.
We recognise that there are a variety of stakeholders that these land management changes could affect. Therefore, we undertook an online consultation where the Sussex community fed in to this discussion and raised any concerns over the proposed changes.
The consultation
As part of the consultation, we asked people to view the following maps:
- Map one: shows the current land use scenario on campus. It demonstrates which areas are currently set aside for nature.
- Map two: shows an example of potential land use if the percentage of campus land set aside for nature was increased to 40%.
- Map three: shows an example of potential land use if the percentage of campus land set aside for nature was increased to 45%.
- Map four: shows an example of potential land use if the percentage of campus land set aside for nature was increased to 50%.
On each of these maps, the areas marked in yellow represent land that could be set aside for nature. Setting aside for nature could entail a range of things, for example planting fruit trees or reducing mowing to allow wildflowers to grow.
Each potential location has also been given a reference number. The consultation is now closed but if you want to provide additional feedback on any of these areas, quote this reference number in your email to help us to understand your comment.
It may also be helpful to use the campus map to aid your responses, e.g for the name of buildings relevant to your comments.
This consultation ran from the 9 November to 28 December and is now closed.
If you have any queries, contact sustainable@sussex.ac.uk.