Biodiversity
The campus has a total area of 143,702 m2, of which 40% is planted and unsealed, 25% is gross floor area and 35% is sealed. The sealed area is to be unsealed by 10% by 2026.
There are a number of developments and measures for increasing biodiversity: green roofs, 550 trees, two bee colonies, nesting and bat boxes, and a variety of different habitats.
The Habitat Garden (5,000 m2) is an open green and recreational space and at the same time an open-air laboratory of the Faculty of Sustainability. Its cultivated elements include the farmer's garden with spices and medicinal herbs, the vegetable patches of the student initiative "Edible Campus" and the meadow orchard with ancient apple varieties. In addition, the Habitat Garden includes various natural landscape elements, such as calcareous grasslands, tall oat-grass meadows, hedges, shrubs, and open water and riparian habitats. More information on the natural habitats can be found directly on site in the garden.
The Habitat Garden is managed by the Institute of Ecology.
The food forest is still in hibernation. But early warm rays of sunshine are slowly awakening the first guild of new plants: Sweet chestnut, elderberry and white, red and black currants will not only provide more biodiversity on campus. “A food forest is a structurally rich, near-natural place where edible plants are grown. Role models are near-natural forest fringes with different layers of vegetation such as trees, shrubs, climbing plants and herbs,” explains Stefanie Albrecht, doctoral student. The food forest can also be a meeting and recreation place, as well as a place for learning. Students of environmental sciences have already accompanied the development in a sustainability research project together with Stefanie Albrecht and the ecologist Dr Agnes Friedel at the School of Sustainability.
The Leuphana Food Forest is an integral part of the master plan for redesigning the campus. Together with Irmhild Brüggen, architect Oliver Günther supports integration into campus planning as well as structural implementation. “Food Forests represent sustainable and multifunctional use, among other things, in urban space. We take another important step on the way to redesigning the campus with this installation,” explains the sustainability officer. Practical work on the food forest began in the summer of 2021 — again as part of a seminar. Students analysed the soil in the laboratory and found that it was sandy, partially compacted and had only small humus layer. Therefore, they spread a green manure with a high diversity of species. The chosen plant species can help to loosen the soil, increase water storage capacity and improve the supply of nutrients. “It is through living-labs like this one that theories taught in university are related to other areas of our world. I was able to help initiate a change and practise in a protected setting,” says Mercedes Schroeder, an environmental sciences student.
Examples students initiatives:
Edible Campus
Nature and Environment Excursion Initiative
Permaculture Garden Lüneburg
We.Learn.Nature
JANUNLüneburg