UAntwerp Climate Team

Nature Management



Nature is a major ally in any climate adaptation strategy. Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, provide natural cooling during periods of heat stress, and can increase resilience to extreme weather such as drought or heavy rainfall. But there is more to it: the ecosystems underpinning human life require a high degree of biodiversity as much as a stable climate. The sharp, documented decreases in biodiversity have led scientists to stress the vital importance of proactive strategies to prevent further mass extinction of species. Finally, the presence of nature in our daily living and/or working environment has a profound influence on our sense of well-being, and nature can accommodate for a variety of social goals. This chapter takes root in these different perspectives on nature to first and foremost ask: how can UAntwerp increase the presence of nature on its campuses and boost and reconcile the different functions that nature provides us with? 


Milestones reached


Currently, UAntwerp’s nature management is designed to enhance the ecological, social and economic functions of nature on campus. The existing grassland complexes are, for example, developed into flowery, natural grasslands where invertebrates are taken into account by providing permanent roughness. The forest resources are transformed into high-quality forest habitats with mature trees. Existing water features are being upgraded to enhance water quality and underwater biodiversity. No pesticides are used in the university’s nature management. Together with Corridor, the university has worked out an ambitious and ecological green plan for CDE to boost biodiversity. These existing plans are excellent touching points for implementing small projects for biodiversity, accelerating the goals of the plans.

Overall, the most progression was achieved in the field of biodiversity, especially on CDE where a lot of actions were undertaken to implement the ambitious biodiversity plan. All achieved milestones are listed below.

  • On CGB a vegetable garden was installed: eleven vegetable boxes were installed together with a wide variety of fruit trees and shrubs. The garden is now in its third year and has grown into a green meeting place for gardeners across the university (Biodiversity/Nature awareness).
  • On CDE, the hillside around Building A was cleared from dead and sick trees and the dominant blackberries. Now the hillside has been planted with fruit trees and shrubs and ten vegetable boxes were installed (Biodiversity/Nature awareness).
  • Corridor biodiversity plan on CDE (Biodiversity):

  • The pond at Komida was dredged. In the short term, this resulted in an immediate reduction of methane emissions, caused by the enormous amount of organic matter at the bottom of the pond (Greenhouse gas reduction). In the mid to long term, the quality of the pond will be improved by allowing more life in and around it.
    • The big field next to Building O was converted into a flower field, with a short-term effect of enhancing biodiversity on this site.
    • Sheep are now grazing the fields of the campus, which had two major impacts. Biodiversity will be enhanced even further since the sheep will transport seeds from other locations to the campus resulting in more diverse flowers. Also, the sheep help to control invasive species such as Fallopia japonica.
    • For these efforts, the university was awarded the prize for most biodiverse business terrain in Flanders within the Green Deal project for businesses.

  • At CST, a tree management plan has been elaborated. Additionally, several greening projects have been realised (e.g. green roof on Building R and planting and/or replacing trees near Buildings K, C, A and D).


Goals


The main goals are to enhance biodiversity, climate adaptation and raise nature awareness.

In enhancing biodiversity we are already on the right track, but lots of opportunities are still unexploited.

In terms of climate adaptation, sustainable buildings will have a huge impact by collecting rainwater, but also the nature on the campus can play a role. Trees will keep the terrain cooler, retain water and capture CO2.

In terms of raising nature awareness, the vegetable gardens are a step in the good direction, but the goal is to integrate buildings, nature and people more fluidly. On CST, there is still a huge potential for more nature visibility.


Actions


  • Implement more steps from the Corridor Biodiversity Plan (Biodiversity);
  • Realise a biodiverse plantation following the principle of a Tiny Forest® (hillside of Building A on CDE). The forest will also serve as a carbon capture research object for the PLECO Group (Biodiversity/Climate adaptation/Research);
  • Create pathways and picknick places in the flower field and nature hotspots (Nature awareness);
  • Add more colour (flowers) and nature (e.g. small pocket parks) on CST (while increasing biodiversity) (Nature awareness/Biodiversity);
  • Create more small pocket parks on CST;
  • Develop a structured plan for a potential horse/cattle food forest on CDE De Ark (Climate adaptation/Biodiversity/Animal welfare);
  • Investigate the potential for living moss walls on CST to filter air pollution and create a cooler environment (Climate adaptation);
  • Investigate the potential for green roofs on all campuses (Biodiversity/Climate adaptation);
  • Perform a scan leading to a selection of softening and greening projects (Climate adaptation);
  • Develop a plan to use and reuse and infiltrate rainwater as much as possible (Climate adaptation);
  • Expand the garden community for both vegetable garden spaces and look for joint projects with the Climate Team’s Food Working Group (Nature awareness);
  • Look for opportunities to combine nature projects and research on campus (Research);
  • Follow up and implementation of the hydrological study (CDE), restore lost pond connections, create biodiversity hotspots in and around ponds (Biodiversity/Climate adaptation);
  • Kickstart the nature management community on all campuses (at the moment CGB and CMI in particular are in need of a nature management facilitator).


Indicators


Biodiversity:

  • Number of trees planted
  • Number of uprooted trees
  • Amount of greening projects realised
  • Increase/decrease in species on the campuses


Climate adaptation:

  • Softened surface (in m2)
  • Paved surface (in m2)
  • Annual water use (in m3/campus)
  • Capacity to collect rainwater (in m3)


Challenges


  • In order to measure the effect of nature management, monitoring is needed. How can we identify successes? Is there an increase in species on the campus? Are the steps taken really beneficial for biodiversity? A standardised way of monitoring is needed to find answers to these questions.
  • UAntwerp’s campuses are spread throughout Antwerp. Every campus deserves its own nature management team – up till now this has been challenging to achieve.
  • If decisions were made to reach the biodiversity goals, are these decisions implemented correctly? Are the people in charge of the practical implementation aware of the goals and effects of these decisions? Do they need additional training to implement specific ecosystems?
  • Acquiring funding

The City Campus is looking for nature buddies!

The climate team is starting a new nature management working group at the city campus and therefore searching nature buddies for every building.  

In the short term, we aim to look for areas that could be unpaved, and to look for places where we could plant trees, hedges, flowers, where we can place insect hotels, provide water for birds and collect rainwater. Installing ‘green roofs’ is a project on the longer term. We will make an inventory of green roofs already present and then explore the possibilities to install more green roofs and walls.

To practically organize this Nature Management at the City Campus, we aim to assign ‘nature buddies’ to a specific area of the city campus. These buddies are mainly a contact point for green management people of the university. These buddies can inform them to discuss new ideas for nature management or to let them know if something needs to be done at that specific area. Or vice versa, theycan also contact the buddies to discuss new ideas.

If you are interested to become nature buddy for your part of the campus, send an e-mail to tine.compernolle@uantwerpen.be