Environmental Conservation students at Reaseheath College and University Centre have been helping improve biodiversity on the campus’s Greenway Trail before putting their work to the test during the annual bioblitz.
Throughout the year, Level 2 and 3 students carried out habitat management on the Local Wildlife Site, clearing grass, cutting back encroaching willow, removing invasive Himalayan balsam and improving access to the area. They also set up mammal tunnels ahead of an annual survey to help identify the species using the site.
Before the summer break, the students were joined by wildlife experts from Cheshire environmental records centre RECORD to carry out a bioblitz, a rapid biodiversity survey used to assess the health of an ecosystem and monitor changes over time.
Working alongside the RECORD team, students identified a wide variety of wildlife, including great burnet, meadowsweet and cuckoo flower, as well as banded demoiselles, azure damselflies and broad-bodied chaser dragonflies. Evidence of badgers, wood mice, bank voles and common shrews was also recorded, alongside bird species including chiffchaffs, greenfinches, wrens and treecreepers.
The findings will now be added to the RECORD database, providing valuable information to support conservation efforts across Cheshire while helping students monitor the impact of their ongoing habitat management.
Environmental Conservation Lecturer Jasmine Hulse said: “It’s fantastic for students to be involved in every stage of the process. They’ve spent the year improving the habitat and then had the opportunity to work alongside RECORD to see the wildlife it supports.
“Experiences like this give our students valuable industry skills while showing them how long-term habitat management and ecological monitoring go hand in hand. It’s exactly the kind of practical learning that prepares them for careers in conservation.”
