The Wildlife in Gardens Award Scheme

We are proposing a “Wildlife in Gardens Award Scheme” that would be delivered by a local Green group in association with the University.

We envisage enhancing University relations by engaging local gardeners in an area in which the University has an international reputation: urban wildlife. The tasks of setting up and delivering the award scheme would provide valuable experience for our BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation Students, who would be closely mentored. The “Wildlife in Gardens Award Scheme” would be modelled on an existing scheme in Maidenhead. This scheme uses an online nomination form where applicants or nominees record the number of wildlife-enhancing features in their gardens. The gardens would be visited by pairs of student reps, or they would view evidence submitted online, and the applicants/nominees awarded bronze, silver or gold awards. We would plan for an event to celebrate the scheme and the steps local gardeners have taken to enhance wildlife in their gardens, and this would be attended by experts in urban wildlife from the University with short talks about the wildlife on campus, and our research in urban wildlife.

Our costs would be as follows:

Promotional material and award certificates – design and printing £200

Student employment through Campus Jobs (modify Maidenhead scheme, nomination forms online, visit gardens/view evidence) 80 hours at administrator rate, £840

Catering at awards ceremony £400 Student mentoring £120

The team:

Earley Environmental Group – contact, Charlotte Allchin. Charlotte is a passionate advocate for local wildlife and engagement with nature. She has experience of working with University through her work as Forest School lead at MERL, and as a lead for Harris Garden outreach events.

University of Reading School of Biological Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – contact, Prof Julie Hawkins.

First steps would be to have a conversation with the University Outreach Team – we became aware of this opportunity at short notice, so have not spoken to key UoR staff yet. The scheme could be a once-off, or we could explore ways of building on it going forward, perhaps devising projects for our students to monitor the longer-term impacts of wildlife friendly gardening.