In collaboration with students from DICE, the Conservation Society and beyond, the Sustainability Working Group has launched an initiative to discover just how biodiverse the Kent campus is. And you can get involved!
We are pleased to report that we have started a student-led endeavour to discover how many species we have on our campus. The University of Kent campus covers roughly 300 hectares and is full of biodiversity. Using iNaturalist, a database that identifies and records biodiversity worldwide, we have already found over 1000 species, and we are only just starting out.
At the 2025 Kent BioBlitz held in May, staff, students and the general public helped us to identify 310 species, including Turkey Tail fungi, Tree Bumblebee, Golden-rod pug, Pygmy Pipistrelle, Goldcrest, Great Crested Newt, Long tailed Shrews and a Cork Oak, to name just a few!
We are interested in anyone who wants to add to our efforts. Students and the local community can get involved easily by downloading the iNaturalist app and taking pictures of the wildlife they find across our campus. Check in on our progress by joining the ‘UoK Canterbury total species count’ project on iNaturalist. All iNaturalist recordings made on campus will automatically be included in the project.