Broadcaster, naturalist and University of Exeter Alumnus Nick Baker opened the event.
Biodiversity, birds and the built environment
The ‘Wildlife in the Built Environment’ event which took place on the Streatham Campus on Wednesday 19 October was a great success.
Staff, students, environmental enthusiasts and local architects were among the lucky audience who enjoyed four dynamic speakers sharing their top tips and advice. The event was also video linked to colleagues in Cornwall.
To coincide with the launch on the University’s Biodiversity Enhancement Plan, the University in partnership with Devon Wildlife Trust, hosted the event to highlight how wildlife can be protected and also encouraged to live on the Exeter and Cornwall campuses and also more widely within the built environment.
The event was opened by Broadcaster, naturalist and University of Exeter Alumnus Nick Baker.
Nick relived his experience of the Exeter Campuses as a student, by telling tales of Badger and Kingfisher watching. He highlighted how intrinsic biodiversity is to everything we do and wanted to see more events like the successful BioBlitz event which took place last October.
Iain Park, Director of Grounds provided an insight into the work which is taking place on the Exeter campuses to enhance Biodiversity, and Susan Warren from the Devon Wildlife Trust introduced the ‘Exeter Wild City Project’ and the city centre vision to become a ‘Green Capital’.
The last to the stage was Edward Mayer who provided an enthusiastic and thought provoking talk on Swift Conservation.
Karen Gallagher, University of Exeter Sustainability Manager said “We were overwhelmed by the interest we had in the event and were so pleased to see such a diverse audience on the night.
"Edward’s talk was particularly inspirational and we will soon be putting up our very own Swift boxes on the St Luke’s campus, so it was great to hear we are doing all of the right things.
"We are so pleased to be working in partnership with Devon Wildlife Trust and look forward to implementing our community engagement plan where there will be lots of opportunities for staff, students and the local community to get involved with protection and enhancement initiatives.”
Date: 24 October 2011
