The University of Sussex has won the prestigious Bees’ Needs Champion Award for 2025, one of only 23 winners nationwide, recognising the University’s dedication to supporting pollinating insects on campus.

The Bees’ Needs Champion Award is presented by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and acknowledges exceptional efforts to helping local bee populations as part of grounds management, such as planting wildflowers and considering pollinators in overall grounds management strategy.

A diverse range of invertebrates have been documented on our campus this year, including 82 species of bee. We have also seen a marked increase of bee activity across the campus and have increased hive capacity.

Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology and founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, commented: “Wild bees and other pollinators are vitally important and are sadly in decline. It is wonderful to see Sussex University’s efforts to help them by encouraging more wildflowers on campus being acknowledged by the Bees Needs Award. Every flower counts!”

What we've done to support our bees

Over the past few years, the University Sustainability team has worked with the Estates Grounds team and the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) to undertake a range of projects and improvements to help out our bees and other insects, including:

• Scattered wildflower seeding into our grassland areas to encourage wildflower growth
• Developing additional educational lecterns across campus
• Using native pollinator species in planting schemes
• Reducing mowing and maintenance in selected non-intrusive areas

Bee hotels have been installed across the campus to support solitary bees, as part of a programme to support student and staff led biodiversity projects, in addition to beehives on the eastern and southern edges of campus.

Sussex also recognised World Bee Day in May, highlighting the variety of pollinators that make their home on campus.

Estates groundskeepers have increased our biodiversity by allowing naturalised banks in West and East Slope to flourish. This has also reduced powered equipment use and our carbon footprint. The banks, alongside the Love Your Scrub project, which is led by Rewilding Sussex, support a range of pollinators.

Our Grounds team is led by Ashley Wilcox, Grounds and Pest Control Manager – see more about Ashley’s role and how the team supports our sustainability goals.

Find out more about how we’re developing Sussex to be one of the most biodiverse campuses in the UK.