SDG 15: Life on Land
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ achieved the ranking in the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ has taken the Nature Positive Pledge to set specific, measurable targets for biodiversity on campus and in supply chains.
Wild Deserts: restoring the desert ecosystem
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ ecologists Dr Bec WestÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýDr Reece Pedler work in Sturt National Park on the Wild Deserts project, working to restore the desert ecosystem by reintroducing locally extinct or endangered native mammals, like bilbies and bandicoots, back into the outback.
Restoring the ecosystem also involves controlling invasive species, managing kangaroo populations and removing feral species. Large fenced enclosures, a ‘Wild Training Zone’ and a range of innovative predator control and research techniques are used to achieve this.Â
In 2023, 430 donors from across the ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ community provided vital funds through the University’s end-of-year appeal to support the Wild Deserts team, helping bring wildlife back to fragile desert ecosystems. There are also volunteering opportunities at the Wild Deserts site.Â
Wild Deserts is a partnership between ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Sydney, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and Ecological Horizons, in collaboration with Taronga Conservation Society Australia, supported by ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ and philanthropic funding.Â
Our work
Centres, institutes and partnershipsÂ
Rewilding to save species
Australia has lost many native species over the past hundred years, earning the undesirable title of ‘extinction central’. This panel discussed how rewilding and breaking from traditional conservation approaches can help save fragile species and ecosystems.Â
Fowlers Gap Research Station
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ is restoring Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station in outback New South Wales as a dedicated conservation site, after 150 years of agricultural use.
The Station is an active participant in the research and development of ecotourism in Outback NSW and wildlife tourism Australia-wide.
Environment Recovery Project: Australian BushfiresÂ
Over 46,000,000 acres burnt in the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season in eastern Australia, including South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Understanding how the environment recovers from this unprecedented fire season is an important scientific goal.
Sustainability initiatives on campus
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Producers
This volunteer-based group works to promote sustainability on campus. It is dedicated to planting, maintaining and harvesting veggies on campus, including the community-run Urban Garden and has also run Bee Hotel workshops which gave community members the opportunity to learn about how to support bee populations in the local ecosystem and the benefits of bee hotels, in aid of biodiversity and sustainability.Â
Planting 1200+ trees
MBA and PhD students from the ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Business School volunteered their time to help the ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Landscaping team plant more than 1200 plants on campus. The event created an opportunity for students to contribute to a healthier campus and the SDGs.
Native bees on campus
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ installed a hive of 5000 stingless bees at its Paddington campus to ensure bees keep up their important pollination work in the area. Students and staff had planted native flower gardens in the years preceding the installation, so that the bees have access to an adequate food supply.Â
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Sustainability Plan 2022-24
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ’s plan includes a target for a net gain in biodiversity on campus using the broad definition of natural value to account for where species live. Five measures were used to track nature value, incentivising project teams to prioritise nature in campus planning and activities.
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ has taken the Nature Positive Pledge to set specific, measurable targets for biodiversity on campus and in supply chains.
Nature positive campus planning using a new methodology to track nature value at ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ’s main campus.
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ launched the world’s first comprehensive system for classifying and mapping all ecosystems, in partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
¹úÃñ²ÊƱ Sustainable Development Goals 2023 Report
This report outlines ¹úÃñ²ÊƱ's performance against the SDGs in 2023.
