Sustainability

Explore our wild campus

Find out more about the wild spaces across our diverse campus and help us to transform University sites into nature-rich havens.

Active Lives' Amanda Marshall demonstrates how to plant a tree to a group of student athletes at Peffermill Playing Fields.
Students learning to plant trees to celebrate nature positive practices at Peffermill.

What makes Edinburgh an extraordinary place to live, work and study? We share our Wild Campus with a rich variety of wildlife, from peregrine falcons, to otters, badgers and deer, to the humble hedgehog. We are working to transform our campus into nature-rich spaces that support biodiversity.

It's not just nature that benefits from healthy ecosystems. The human benefits of interaction with our wild spaces include improved wellbeing  and opportunities for experiential learning and exercise.

Did you know that 86% of students think that all universities should take action to protection and support nature on their grounds or on other land they own? 

Student opinion on access to nature and education 

As you stroll through certain parts of our campus, you'll notice signs highlighting key species and habitats, designed to catch your eye and showcase the untamed beauty of our existing wild spaces.

Do you have a Wild Campus vision of your own, or ideas about how we can support nature positive practices on campus?

Share your ideas by emailing us with "Wild Campus" in the subject line.

Contact us

Wild Campus: events, training and volunteering opportunities

A student athlete plants a sapling at Peffermill Playing Fields, helped by other students
There are plenty of opportunities to take part in nature positive activities across our wild campus. Find out more and get involved.

Wild Peffermill

We're turning the University's playing fields at Peffermill into a wildlife haven, and you're invited to be part of it.

Hedgehog friendly campus

Hedgehog Friendly Campus Gold Award 2021/22
The Hedgehog Friendly Campus scheme has been running at the University since 2019. The project has provided a platform for staff and students to drive all sorts of biodiversity benefits.

Data tracking: how biodiverse is our campus?

How green is your campus biodiversity map - Pollock Halls
Explore the variety of plants and animals across our campus.

We’re on a long-term mission to nurture our extraordinary campus into biodiverse, habitat-rich havens, in which wildlife and our university community will thrive side-by-side.