Chapter I
Once upon a time ...

Before the Utrecht Science Park (USP) was what it is now, a centre of knowledge and innovation, it was … an orchard. A meadow, a forest, another part probably just a field. The cows were grazing, the birds chirping and an immeasurable number of insects buzzing in the place where students are nowadays getting bored at their lectures.

 

This part of Utrecht was in the past, similarly as today, used for farming. The land in the area is highly fertile and rich in various nutrients, thus perfect for cultivating many different kinds of plants, with corn and wheat fields and apple orchards being the most represented. As years went by and new farming technologies were being introduced, making the work of farmers more efficient, the natural environment has gradually fallen to the unstoppable force of the Man and started to deteriorate. This led to many species of animals and plants endogenous to this area, among them the grass snake, scarce chaser, shining pondweed, northern crested newt and the European weatherfish, moving away, towards other sites. The population of bugs and other insects has decreased by an estimate of 70%. The forests were shrunk to gain space for evermore fields and the meadows built upon for provision of urbanised spaces. The soil and water got significantly polluted with phosphorus and nitrogen from the fertilisers that were used on the fields. In every sense, the picture of a balanced ecosystem and flourishing biodiversity has become very grim.

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Years later, the Utrecht Science Park emerged and Utrecht University opened its Green Office. The university has also prepared a sustainability plan, of which the increase of biodiversity is one of the primary goals. Since then the Green Office strived to achieve this goal, by attempting to reintroduce the endogenous species which once left this place. Although this is an enormous challenge, because a lot of the species are severely underrepresented in the area, we strongly believe that nothing is impossible…