Students at College of West Anglia Cambridge campus are supporting a tree planting project in collaboration with the Woodland Trust, The British Hedgehog Preservation Society and The Conservation Volunteers. The project is in support of wider plans to rewild areas of the campus.

 CWA Cambridge campus, which is based in Milton, offers landbased courses including animal care, land and wildlife studies, equine and dog grooming. 

The project aims to encourage and support native species such as birds, invertebrates and mammals by planting over 400 trees, shrubs and hedgerows. When matured, these will support a variety of British animal species, such as the Hazel Dormouse, hedgehogs and many invertebrates. The rewilding project will also help to combat climate change, which has a significant impact on natural environments.

 The CWA Cambridge campus rewilding project will also support the actions required to achieve a silver award for the Hedgehog Friendly Campaign, which is funded by The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. CWA Cambridge campus have already completed the 10 actions required to achieve the bronze award. 

 All CWA Cambridge students had the opportunity to take part in the rewilding. Each course on the CWA Cambridge campus has an element of wildlife studies and this project aids the students to put theory into practice.

Abbie Morris, Animal Care Lecturer and Course Director at CWA said:

 “Projects like this provide learners with the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice, supporting skill development. Habitat maintenance is a key role in many jobs within the landbased sector. Rewilding the habitat will support multiple native species by providing shelter, food and safety.

 The students have been working through The British Hedgehogs Preservation Society's actions to encourage hedgehog activity on the campus. In the future, we plan to build feeding stations and hedgehog homes within the woodland to create a hedgehog haven.”