No Mow May at LJMU

LJMU is taking part in No Mow May as part of our commitment to enhancing biodiversity and the environment.

It is a national initiative from Plantlife which asks people not to mow their lawns throughout the month.

Leaving the grass encourages wildflowers to grow which is beneficial for our wildlife and helps habitats to thrive.

To support No Mow May, we are leaving three areas of lawn to grow throughout the month:

• Copperas Hill, outside the Sports Building
• Byrom Street, at the end of James Parsons Building
• John Foster gardens, outside the old chapel

As part of LJMU’s Climate Action Plan, we have committed to increasing biodiversity across the university estate. Throughout 2024 we are undertaking an exercise to baseline the value of our habitats.

However, one of the problems with mowing grass on a regular basis is that it can hide the true value of the habitat. No Mow May will help to reveal some much-needed information about some of our grassland habitats and help us to look at the best way forward for them.

We’re hoping to get a better picture about the true biodiversity value of some of the grasslands across the university, so that we can look at changes we could make to their management which would benefit wildlife.

We are currently working on the LJMU Biodiversity Plan in which we will map out a way forward for wildlife on our estate. The plan is for this to be ready in the 2024/25 academic year, so look out for more details.