Flora and fauna

The Tilburg campus borders on the Warande Wood, and the word warande derives from the French varenne, meaning hunting forest or pleasure garden. The countless university strollers in the park will find trees such as beech, oak, birch, pine, larch, fir and spruce. With many blackberry bushes, ferns and moor grasses, the undergrowth is typical of this region. Heather and lichens, which used to be common, are becoming rarer now.

Several species

There are about 55 species of birds living in the wood, including birds of prey such as the buzzard and the tawny owl. On the campus corner, at the crossroads of Professor Gimbrèrelaan and Hogeschollaan, a tree has been specially fitted out with an owl’s nest. The Warande Wood is the only location in the Netherlands that is the habitat of the Siberian chipmunk, originally deriving from the Tilburg zoo, which used to be located nearby from 1932 to 1973. It is in this period that, as persistent legend has it, a stunned visitor to the psychology lab looked out of the window and saw an escaped elephant pass by.

The former Tilburg zoo. Did an elephant escape?

The University campus counts almost 1,200 trees. The park surrounding the Cobbenhagen Building is the oldest part, with its large green lawns being dotted with gorgeous and even rare trees, such as a tulip tree, a Japanese pagoda tree, a wingnut tree and a sweetgum tree. Most fitting for a “special” university are the tree of heaven and the American locust tree or (false) Christ's thorn. Since 2016, five trees have been granted the status of being natural monuments. The latest acquisition is the Sequiadendron giganticum, a giant sequoia, which is doing very well in the campus grounds. Quite an eye catcher in the park around the Cobbenhagen Building is the giant birch, which, over the decades, has been covered all over with names of infatuated students.

Changings

The Siberian chipmunk

The wood surrounding the campus is changing little by little. In the past, northern red oak used to cover about 80% of the wood, which not only made for a lot of monotony, but also produced a monoculture that was prone to disease. The oaks are gradually being replaced by indigenous trees, such as beech, sweet chestnut trees and rowans. The University has a biodiversity and no-pesticide policy, which reduces soil degradation and causes policeman’s helmet, helleborine orchids, ferns and Solomon’s seal to return and brambles and nettles to disappear. Each year, wild flowers are sown into the Warande Building flowerbeds, producing a rich palette of wild flowers every spring. The campus is the habitat of many songbirds, but the kingfisher and the cormorant have also made their comeback in the last few years. Bird boxes help the bird population to grow, keeping caterpillars and lice down to a minimum in a natural way. Squirrels, rabbits and hedgehogs live in the wood, and toads make their way to the restructured pond every spring to mate.

Green roofs

Green roofs have been introduced for their isolating properties, such as the sedum roofs on the pavilions of the Simon Building, the Faculty Club and the Cobbenhagen Building. The roof of the Dante Building is covered with sedum herb. The University was given a green quality label for its integrated approach. While the University’s grew from the sixties onwards and more and more stone buildings and wooden structures appeared, the natural environment was not always its first priority. From 2013 onwards, however, all campus estate management plans must reinforce its green character. A tall order, considering the University’s growth ambitions. The way forward, then, in enhancing flora and fauna on and around the campus is a master plan that focuses