School grounds: Biodiversity opportunities in every community
The benefits go far and wide...
What memories do you have of your school grounds?
Mine are a grey expanse of tarmac, and a tantalising grassy area we relentlessly asked to venture onto as the weather warmed.  My secondary school offered little extra other than more grass fields and dive-bombing gulls desperate for discarded food. Not quite a biodiverse haven of eco-systems, but perhaps a description familiar to many – that combination of tarmac yard and grass field of in a range of shapes and sizes.
Of course, there are exceptions and school grounds vary significantly across the UK. Some schools have extensive sites with diverse habitats, others have pockets of wild areas, whilst some, often in urban areas, have only a walled yard and no grass at all.
These sites are owned and managed by a wide range of parties: trustees, local authorities, private landowners, and dioceses, among others, and the primary aim of a school site is for exercise, education and safety isn’t it?
A diamond in the rough
I’m not going to list all the benefits of biodiversity in general, other than to nod at the IPBES 2019 Global Assessment Report that identified an unprecedented decline in nature, with significant impacts on economies, livelihoods, food security and quality of life.
Schools are at the heart of most communities in the UK, whether that be a Hebridean island, inner-city or a coastal town – wherever there is a community of people you are likely to find an educational establishment nearby. There are more than 32,000 schools nationwide, which means school grounds offer potential for widespread biodiversity boosts. However, they generally remain underutilised. Of the schools that joined The Tree Council’s Young Tree Champions programme this year, more than a third reported no nature area or garden space on their school grounds before the project started. Almost 80% reported having no garden area or nature space accessible to pupils at all.
As mentioned in my colleague Jess Allan’s Tree Talk, the government’s national tree canopy cover target now applies to ‘non-woodland trees’. Underdeveloped school grounds offer excellent planting opportunities to help reach this target.
The Department for Education released a sustainability and climate change strategy in 2022 recognising the importance of using the education estate to deliver improvements in biodiversity, reduce nature decline and tackle heat and flooding issues.
So, we agree more biodiversity in school grounds is needed… what’s the problem?
Buy-in – Whilst you can have the most passionate individual leading the improvements, wider buy-in is essential. If a school relies on one team member only, turnover or sickness can spell catastrophe. Buy-in needs to start with school leadership. Additionally, if groundwork is managed by an external organisation, they need to be involved too. Then there are the pupils. For a biodiverse site to have maximum impact, it must have young people at its heart. Support from an external organisation can make a real difference - an outside ‘expert’ can help generate confidence in development plans.
Funding - It is often a struggle for schools to fund site developments, so access to simple grants for trees, hedgerows, plants, seeds and equipment is vital. But the planting stage is where a lot of funding ends. Â Financial support for tree protection, watering, soil improvement and mulching is just as important.
Training – Whilst funding is key, a wealth of plants and equipment is only beneficial if the team knows what to do with it. Therefore, training is crucial – and helps maintain engagement. Learning isn’t just for pupils.
Support – Whether it be major planting activity or school holiday cover, there are always times when extra hands are needed. This is where community support can be extremely beneficial - a school may return the favour by helping local community groups with planting or gardening during term time. It’s also a great way for local companies to develop their community engagement and corporate responsibility strategies. But please bear in mind, schools have safeguarding considerations relating to onsite volunteers.
Health and safety – Health and safety approaches can differ from school to school, but it’s always important. That’s safety around equipment for teachers and pupils, as well as safety of the land being developed. Ponds are an excellent addition to improve biodiversity, but access and safety must be addressed. Health and safety also need to be considered when planning planting. If a thorny hedgerow has been chosen - another great habitat for wildlife - would it be better around a field boundary rather than next to a footpath? Â
Opportunities and long-term benefits
There’s no doubt that developing biodiversity in schools isn’t a ‘quick win’, but the effort reaps rewards!
I mentioned that pupils need to be at the heart of developments and here’s why. As stated in the government’s biodiversity report of 2021, for biodiversity to be protected, it must be appreciated and valued. The report states that increasing detachment from nature stops many of us knowing and directly experiencing it. This starts at a young age - children are spending less and less time outdoors. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds and ethnic minorities have particularly low access to green spaces. So, by developing biodiverse spaces in school grounds that children have regular access to, we can start to incubate those essential connections to nature and help children see the value in biodiverse ecosystems.
In Dasgupta’s 2021 review of the Economics of Biodiversity, he believed re-connecting young people with nature was crucial to fostering an empowered citizenry to address biodiversity loss. In a society where biodiversity is on a knife edge, we need to engage the generation who must be the solution, otherwise our current efforts will be for nothing. By developing and enhancing this connection with nature, we can also inspire young people to follow green career paths.
In 2012, the National Trust warned that children’s physical and mental health was at risk because of a lack of connection with green spaces, and the 2019 Landscapes Review details how time in nature can lower blood pressure, increase cardiovascular health and improve mood. At a time when young people face varying complex challenges to mental health and mood, this opportunity to connect with a biodiverse space on a daily basis is essential to support a healthy and happy generation.
What can we do to help?
It’s easy to write school biodiversity off as an action for the education sector, but it’s got to be a communal effort. They say it takes a village to raise a child… well it might also take a village to create biodiversity in school grounds, with benefits and opportunities for all.
Find out what your local schools are doing, offer your help and get involved – particularly in areas with poor access to nature and higher deprivation.
The Tree Council works with schools across the UK to develop Young Tree Champions who will plant and care for trees and nature on school sites. Many other initiatives exist to engage schools and we need to ensure that, as a community, we are offering ongoing support to schools – particularly those who have the farthest to come - to make the most of these biodiversity opportunities.
Katie Rafferty is The Tree Council’s National Schools Programme Officer. To find out more about The Tree Council’s schools programme, please visit www.treecouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/schools-and-education/
References/ Useful links
IPBE’s 2019 Report - https://www.ipbes.net/global-assessment
Biodiversity in the UK: Bloom or bust? 2021 - https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmenvaud/136/136-report.html#heading-6
The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review
Department for Education Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy 2022 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy
From a school perspective:
The Nature Connectedness Research Group at University of Derby
https://teaching.blog.gov.uk/author/julie-newman/
https://edexec.co.uk/improving-biodiversity-on-school-grounds/
MORE: Our landscapes could be transformed by approaching gap in hedgerow tree succession
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