Burns Forest
The iconic Burns Building, damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes, was demolished in 2024. The vacated landscape will be transformed into an ecological zone, known as the Burns Forest.
Construction of the Burns Forest ‘hard landscape’ began in late 2024.
The hard landscape includes a four-metre-wide shared pathway to Springs Road, which extends the design of Te Kare Maioha (Lincoln University cultural paving patterns), using the crushed aggregate from the demolished Burns building as a base material.
The shared pedestrian/cycle pathway provides a formal link between the University and the township and enables easy access to the town centre for the campus community, as well as reciprocal access for the wider Lincoln community to campus facilities – such as Waimarie, Te Kete Ika and Whare Hākinakina.
The lighting within the Burns Forest will traverse a delicate balance between meeting user needs and safeguarding biodiversity, so lighting options will be safe for pedestrians while also emanating an appropriate hue for wildlife.
Wayfinding signage will be installed at appropriate points to complement the wider campus wayfinding signage network.
Planting
Planting will be undertaken in stages, beginning with pioneer planting and moving through to climax species and understorey planting.
The initial pioneer species will be clover, for nitrogen fixing. The clover will be progressively removed as subsequent planting of native species proceeds.
The project to create a native forest area on the former Burns site will literally be an organic and evolving process, with all planting scheduled for completion in 2027.
Plant sourcing
Plants and seeds will be eco-sourced, with many grown in our campus glasshouses under the supervision of Pauline Murphy – Hort Research Area Manager and Brent Richards – Senior Tutor (both from the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences).
Where appropriate plant or seed sources don’t exist on campus, the required seeds or plants will be acquired from approved suppliers.
The University is pursuing some exciting opportunities to partner with other growers and conservation agencies around the supply of plants for the Burns Forest, and we will share this news when we can.