UCLA recently became the first school in the state to receive the Green Grounds Certification from Re:wild Your Campus opens a new window. The honor recognizes UCLA’s efforts to improve human health and biodiversity by eliminating the use of pesticides on campus.
At UCLA, more than 90% of campus grounds are managed sustainably, with the university employing ecologically friendly practices to maintain its green areas, including entirely discontinuing pesticide use in its landscaping.
UCLA earned a gold-level certification thanks to its long-standing efforts to transition turf spaces to drought-tolerant plants and recent projects focusing more on native plants. Over 30,000 square feet of turf was recently converted to California native, drought-tolerant plants.
“This certification reflects the hard work of so many at UCLA, especially our grounds staff from Facilities Management and the Landscape and Ecology Task Force,” Nurit Katz, UCLA’s chief sustainability officer, said. “The goal is setting an example with climate-resilient landscapes that also support human and ecological health that hopefully become standard way beyond our campus.”
The student-led Sustainability Action Research program opens a new window at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability included an undergraduate team that worked with UCLA Facilities Management and Sustainability on a study on campus grounds to measure soil health by comparing synthetic fertilizers versus compost tea — an application made by steeping compost in water to extract nutrients and good microorganisms. Applied research projects like this contributed to the certification.
The UCLA Landscape Plan has a framework for more green outdoor spaces rich in climate-resilient plants with California origins. The landscape palette for the campus was informed by a list of plants and flowers provided by the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe, who are the traditional caretakers of the land where UCLA now resides. It incorporates their ecological knowledge and was a result of a formal agreement signed in 2022 opens a new window that makes traditional ways of planting, harvesting and gathering part of campus landscaping and caretaking practices.
Facilities Management groundskeepers have already participated in a California Native Plant Landscaper Certification Program facilitated by the Theodore Payne Foundation. The training in the specialized maintenance of native plant life supports UCLA’s ongoing efforts to improve water conservation and mitigate the effects of statewide drought conditions on our campus.
The university has also committed to ecosystem preservation and bolstering biodiversity through the global Nature Positive Universities opens a new window alliance.
