On 3 June 2025, the BUW 2024 Sustainability Award was presented to Tom Schürhoff (Dec. 5) and Prof. Dr Gertrud Lohaus (Botany working group) for the project "Natural campus area for plants, animals and people"
Biodiversity is declining worldwide Biological biodiversity is declining worldwide, i.e. more species are dying out than new species are being added. One reason for this is a lack of suitable habitats (biotopes) for the species. Species protection is therefore primarily to be understood as biotope protection.
Our contribution to sustainable development Urban sites, such as the BUW's outdoor area, can also be a habitat for various plant and animal species. This requires a more natural design of the grounds and various (micro) habitats should be available on the grounds.
What has been/is being done on the campus?
Habitats for various plant and animal species are being created through various measures (e.g. bird food trees, deadwood hedges, species-rich grassland) the grounds are maintained in such a way that habitats with as much structure as possible are preserved or apart from traffic safety measures, there is little intervention in other areas the campus grounds and the plant species growing there are used and presented in teaching events guided tours, brochures and other forms of presentation are used to publicise biodiversity and the ecological relationships on the campus grounds to a wider public.