Biodiversity Restoration and Allied Green Marketing Opportunities on Higher Education Campuses: A Seven-Year Service-Learning Model from Union Christian College, India

Biodiversity loss driven by human-induced environmental degradation is a global concern with profound ecological, social, and economic implications. Higher education institution (HEI) campuses, often functioning as semi-protected landscapes, offer unique opportunities for biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, and sustainability-oriented learning. This paper reports on a seven-year biodiversity restoration and service learning initiative undertaken at Union Christian College (UCC), Aluva, Kerala, India, across its 24-hectare campus. The initiative emerged in the aftermath of the catastrophic Kerala floods of 2018, during which the campus hosted over 13,000 displaced people, resulting in localized ecological stress and biodiversity loss.
Beginning in 2019 and formally structured from 2022 onward, the program integrated ecological restoration with curriculum-embedded service learning, community engagement, and allied green marketing possibilities. Key interventions included the establishment of fruit tree gardens, conservation of rare and endangered plant species, grafting and propagation of historically significant plant stock (notably Mangifera indica ‘Gandhimavu’ planted by Mahatma Gandhi in 1925), ethnobotanical documentation, vegetation waste recycling, and the development of campus-based green products such as plant-derived mementos. The initiative employed a multidisciplinary methodology combining classroom instruction, field surveys, herbarium development, nursery management, and reflective learning practices.
Outcomes indicate measurable improvements in campus biodiversity, enhanced ecological resilience, enriched student learning experiences, and emerging livelihood and marketing opportunities rooted in biodiversity stewardship. The model demonstrates how HEI campuses can function as living laboratories for biodiversity conservation, sustainability education, and local green entrepreneurship, directly contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land).

Campus biodiversity, service learning, ecological

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