UNCW is committed to providing a beautiful, educational, and environmentally friendly setting for the benefit of the entire university community. Greenways are integrated throughout the campus, where landscaped gardens and an abundance of live oaks and longleaf pines grace the university grounds.
Approximately 23 percent of the 650-acre College Road campus is set aside as greenspace or protected wetlands including the Herbert Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve. Off campus, UNCW boasts the Ev-Henwood and Broadfoot nature preserves.
Campus greenways are designed to provide a framework for an outdoor classroom, or arboretum. Enhancements are underway that will improve both the aesthetics and the educational value of the landscape. Theme gardens and the placement of plant identification signs have already created new learning opportunities.
Equally important as our cultivated landscape is our natural landscape. The Herbert Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve, wetlands, and pine savanna, all display the richness of our native flora. These natural resources provide valuable insight into the unique ecology of Southeastern North Carolina.
All long-range plans for campus landscaping include preservation and continued planting of longleaf pines and greater use of native species and natural plantings for environmental, historical and aesthetic reasons.
