Schoolgrounds and Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the entire range of living things on the planet. There are three parts to biodiversity: ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity.

Ecosystem diversity: The different types of ecosystems, the living things within them and their physical attributes including weather and climate that make each ecosystem distinctive.
Species diversity: The millions of species of plants, animals, fungus and bacteria. A species comprises a similar group of living organisms that can freely interbreed and produce healthy offspring that can in turn reproduce.
Genetic diversity: Each individual organism has its own unique combination of genes that make it subtly different to other individuals. Many organisms have populations within small regions which have some distinctive genes.. When populations are lost, some genes may also be lost. When many populations are lost, the gene pool can be diminished. This can affect the ability of a species to evolve and survive.

Students can have a significant impact on their local biodiversity. They can create projects in their school grounds that will protect the remaining genetic diversity of their area, such as:

• Protecting existing habitat li>Reducing stormwater problems
• Controlling weeds and feral animals
• Creating new habitat such as forests, grasslands and wetlands
• Installing nestboxes and extending ground leaf litter
• Protecting the genetic diversity of our food by growing heritage vegetables and fruit.

These projects can also make the school more attractive and student-friendly by:

• Providing an attractive bush setting and reducing the extreme visual impact of solid blocks of buildings
• Providing a wider range of active and passive play spaces for students
• Screening unattractive aspects of the school
• Having spaces where students can engage with nature

What Sustainable Schools can expect to achieve

• Expand the area of gardens in the school by 20% in the first year.
• Increase biodiversity in the school ground by 50% in the first year.
• Establish a vegetable garden.

Inspiring Schools

Resource Links

These free resources can help you to integrate schoolgrounds and biodiversity projects into your curriculum:

• Curriculum materials on wetland habitat and terrestrial invertebrates.
• Design a Victorian wildlife habitat online using Gould League's award-winning Wildscapes website.
• The award-winning Australian Wildlife Cams website offers a great insight into the world of nestboxes.
• Melbourne Wildlife Sanctuary at La Trobe University has an indigenous nursery and pamphlets on designing ponds and frog bogs.
• Visit the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage Biodiversity webpages for current information on biodiversity issues at a national level.
• Other useful websites include the Community Biodiversity Website and the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment's webpages on biodiversity.