The Garden Team within Queen's have been busy making sure our pollinators have an abundance of food and shelter!

They have created several 'no mow areas' within Riddel Hall, at Ashby Hill and within the DKB Quad. As a result, a range of pollinators have grown - buttercups, clover, selfheal and silene. 

In addition to the ongoing work of the Estates Team, we also need to know the level of pollinator diversity we currently have on campus in order to effectively assess the impact of such work and any future interventions. 

As a result two students from the School of Biology have been provided with placements to undertake a Phase 1 Habitat Survey during the 2021 survey season. They will be conducting plant, invertebrate, soil and mammal areas in two campus locations –Lennoxvale Street and Riddel Hall. This project has been funded via Queen's Green Fund. 

If you have a biodiversity idea that will help Queen's support the All Ireland Pollinator Plan please get in touch via email: sustainability@qub.ac.uk. 

Staff, students and local residents have rejuvenated a vacant brownfield site into a nursery growing native trees – 1,000 trees will be nurtured over the next two years, all of which will be planted within Belfast, as part of the Million Trees for Belfast Campaign. This project was imagined by the local San Souci Residents Association and local students, who are now responsible for the long-term management of the site with the support of The Conservation Volunteers NI.

In March 2022, the Lord Mayor of Belfast helped QUB staff and students and the Sans Souci Residents Association as they planted trees at Elm’s Village.

This journey started in 2019, when students and Sans Souci residents collected seeds from Belvoir Forest. Since then, local residents and the volunteers at Lennoxvale Tree Nursery on the Malone Road have looked after the acorns and helped them grow into oak saplings, which have been replanted at Elm’s Village.

The Lennoxvale Tree Nursery is just one of a number of 'Nurture and Grow' initiatives taking place across the University which bring together staff, students and members of the local community. These projects aim to increase local biodiversity and support nature in an urban setting.

The Green at Queen’s Allotment idea was created by a group of student volunteers, who worked in partnership with The Conservation Volunteers to launch the allotment in 2019.

The aim of the BT9 Student Allotment was to promote the importance of green spaces around the university, increase biodiversity, and support mental wellbeing and mindfulness by providing an area for relaxation. The project has proven to be a resounding success. The society currently has seven beds planted with a range of plants and vegetables, including potatoes, onions, and daffodils. With the help of the Conservation Volunteers the society has also created an apple orchard on site. Future plans include implementing composting and continuing to host a range of workshops. To get involved in the allotment please email rlcbt9@qub.ac.uk. 

The Alleyway Transformation Project works with local resident groups to transform unused spaces within South Belfast into vital community spaces with seating and planting. Queen’s students, staff and local residents have tided, painted and planted two alleyways – Miracle Way and Caledonia Alley. The volunteers work with Belfast artists to create murals that reflect the local community spirit. Further, the student volunteers and residential groups work in partnership with the ‘Live Here Love Here’ Campaign to ensure the area is continually maintained and enhanced via clean ups throughout South Belfast.

On 23/02/2022, QUB Gardeners made the trip to West Winds Primary School, Newtownards, to help the P7s plant some birch saplings. The children had an absolute blast planting 20 birch saplings at their school! Our Gardeners also had a great time teaching the children all about birch saplings, the tree-planting process and how to look after them.

The day was so successful that the teachers at West Winds Primary School would like our gardeners to come back and help the children create a Wildflower meadow at the school. This process has already begun, with Gareth Dalzell from Dalzell Landscape Company volunteering his time to cut the turf, and the children helping lift the turf away.

On 31st May 2022, our Gardening Team, along with QCAP (Queen's Communities and Place), visited St. Malachy's Primary School in The Markets to teach students how to build bird boxes for Blue Tits and Robins. While they were there, our Gardening Team also helped tidy up the primary school's garden area- they even found some frogs while they were hard at work!

The students had a great time (as you can see from the big smiles!) and our Gardening Team enjoyed a morning of activities at the primary school.

This outing was a part of the ongoing work QCAP complete with their community partners and also part of the Gardening Team's mission to increase biodiversity at Queen's University and biodiversity within the local community.

On 01/03/2022, our QUB Gardening team, with the help of some Handy Helpers, made the trip to the Ashby Building to plant a new wildlife hedgerow on the hill at the back of the Ashby. The gardeners and Handy Helpers were tasked with planting 50 linear metres of hedgerow along the fencing that separates the Ashby Building from Chlorine Gardens. In order for the hedge to be deemed a ‘wildlife’ hedgerow, there must be at least 6 species of sapling planted. The species included in our new hedgerow included:

Hawthorne, Blackthorne, Holly, Beech, Oak, Field Maple, Hazel, Crab apple, Alder.

This project is part of the Gardening team’s mission to continue increasing biodiversity across Queen’s campus.

The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering received £200 from the Green Fund to produce a digital timeline of their apple orchard. The below videos show the annual lifecycle of their apple trees from dormant, in blossom, early fruit, in leaf and fruit ready to be picked.

Increasingly, Queen's University are investing in biodiversity initiatives to ensure our campus is providing a home for wildlife. To ensure what we are doing is supporting our local wildlife, the number and range of biodiversity surveys taking part across campus needs to continually increase. 

This has resulted in a range of staff and student projects:

• Queen's Wildlife Camera Project undertaken by the Porters
• School of Biological Sciences Living Lab Surveys
• The Sustainability and Gardening Team undertaking a range of citizen science surveys