Eight tips for building biodiversity in your school

At the ResourceSmart Schools Southern Progress Workshop held in November 2022 participants explored these eight tips for building biodiversity in your school.

1. Prioritise planting Indigenous plants and ensure that you have a broad variety of plants to support local wildlife (consider soil, sun and water requirements of plants and their mature size).

2. Avoid planting exotics that are weedy eg. agapanthus (check with local council what is considered a weed in your area).

3. Plant across the various levels of canopy, that is, groundcover, shrubs and some trees at least 6m tall.

4. Protect your habitat garden (fence it off, or set it up where there is limited foot traffic).

5. Do less – don’t overprune, leave twigs and branches on the ground, don’t use pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. Wildlife enjoy places to hide, and chemicals cause all kinds of problems for our environment.

6. Mulch all exposed soil to reduce moisture loss, suppress weeds, and provide habitat for lizards and other insects.

7. Set up nest boxes (at least 4m high, in the shade, and facing away from prevailing winds).

8. Have a water source (ponds attract snakes so bird baths may be better but they must be kept clean, and ideally have ones at ground level as well as raised so that a broader variety of animals can enjoy them).