Students can expect to see fewer lawn mowers and more foliage on campus as UB goes au naturale.
In a continuing effort to make UB a more earth-friendly place, the Environmental Task Force and the staff members of UB Green are allowing some areas on campus to return to their natural state.
The Natural Regeneration Project began in 1995 as part of a plan developed by the ETF called UB2025, according to Erin Cala, and those designated areas basically remain untouched.
"The intent was to reduce energy consumption and air pollution by reducing grass cutting and to provide a buffer zone along the edges of North Campus and allow these zones to return to their natural state," said Cala, an environmental educator with the UB Green office. "The hope was that with time these zones would create suitable habitat for native plant and wildlife species."
In the decade since the project began, there has been an increase in biodiversity, with the areas increasingly inhabited by waterfowl, birds, rodents and deer, among other animals, Cala said.
"However, since 1995, when UB 2025 was developed, many of those areas have become sites that have been developed and are now occupied by campus apartment complexes," she added. "Campus woods, meadows, wildlife habitat and green space have been lost and have been replaced by buildings and parking lots."
Earlier this semester, President John Simpson expressed his desire to increase UB's enrollment and the size of its faculty. With this announcement, however, comes the concern of providing parking for these additional students and teachers.
Parking and housing are already issues for students, and they could become more prevalent if UB increases in size.
"There aren't any plans to pave over anything that isn't already paved," said Maria Wallace, director of Campus Parking and Transportation. "It's not currently on the tables. There would be water retention issues that would have to do with water drainage and rain. A water retention pond would have to be built if there was going to be additional parking."
However, there are other options on the table, according Wallace.
"There's the notion of building up a parking deck, like at the Galleria Mall-it's not self-contained, there aren't walls. You're creating an additional level. That's an option," Wallace said. "Parking ramps are an additional option but there are more costs, like security and maintenance. Parking decks are simpler and they're open."
The only additional parking to be added in the near future will be the paving of a lot in the Ellicott Complex, which has been serving as a makeshift gravel lot. The gravel lot, according to Wallace, will be paved next fall.
Some students, aware of the conflicting interests, said they are pleased with the ETF's measures to preserve nature on campus.
"I think it's a good thing because it allows things to grow that will thrive, things that will be there forever," said Katie Boofer, a junior communications major. "There's more than enough parking."
As the Natural Regeneration Area project continues, the ETF has plans to make it more visible to students.
"The ETF would like to improve signage and perhaps promote a system of trails highlighting the regeneration areas as the prized natural areas they are," Cala said. "Additionally, even in the absence of a trail system there are some natural regeneration areas deserving of a walk or short hike."
The program seeks to improve UB in several ways, and while environmental impact is most prevalent, the program also has aesthetic components.
"We believe that nature as it was intended to be is an organic, ever-changing process which only contributes to the overall beauty of (the) campus," Cala said. "There is a reason why people seek out nature to relax and recharge. It is important that campus natural areas exist and are accessible to the community."
UB is a large campus, and this program will certainly not involve all the land owned by the university, but rather to create pockets of nature in an artificial environment.
"They have the land to do it," said Rebecca Anderson, a sophomore sociology major. "It's better than another concrete slab."
