Five years wilder: Bauer Media Outdoor UK and The Wildlife Trusts mark five years of impact

Five years ago, we joined forces with The Wildlife Trusts in a collaboration built on a simple belief: public infrastructure can and should do more than just occupy public space. It should add value to the places, people and wildlife around it.

Since then, we’ve donated £2m in media space to The Wildlife Trusts, helping the charity reach people where they live, work, and travel. From high streets and transport hubs to local neighbourhoods, the partnership supports campaigns that encourage more people to notice, protect and speak up for nature. From the pollinators working quietly above our heads to the birds, insects and small mammals sharing our increasingly urban world.

To mark this anniversary, we’re running a dedicated Out of Home campaign across our Adshel Live network, using our screens to tell the Five Years Wilder story and highlight the impact of the partnership and our Living Roofs.

Thirzah McSherry, Director of Marketing, Development and Communications at The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“Our partnership with Bauer Media Outdoor demonstrates how both businesses and town centres can play a meaningful role in helping nature recover. From raising awareness of the challenges facing nature, to creating Living Roof habitats in towns and cities, together we’re helping show that public infrastructure can be part of the solution to the nature and climate crises.”

Living Roofs: habitats above the high street

One of the most visible examples of our partnership is our Living Roofs. Sitting atop bus shelters, these green roofs provide pockets of habitat for bees and other flying insects, while also offering resting opportunities for small birds and urban wildlife. In a decade where cities are expanding and natural spaces are under pressure, these small interventions matter. A roof that might otherwise be empty becomes part of a wider ecological network.  

Today, there are more than 350 Living Roofs across the UK. It’s a growing patchwork of wild spaces above busy streets, validated by The Wildlife Trusts, that underpins our sustainability story while providing independent assurance that the infrastructure is designed with nature in mind.

Because bus shelters sit along key travel corridors and in local centres, Living Roofs can act as stepping‑stones within wider nature recovery networks – helping pollinators move through built‑up areas and linking larger green spaces and habitats. Our recent Milestone bus shelters show this approach in action: bringing Living Roofs to more locations and creating visible, tangible habitats where people wait, meet, and move through their day.

Across the UK, several councils have introduced their first Living Roof bus shelters in partnership with BMO, including Barnet, Burnley, and York, with plans for additional Living Roof shelters funded through advertising revenue. In Essex and Bournemouth, new Milestone shelters with Living Roofs are being deployed along key routes and high‑footfall locations.

Recognised impact in Derby

In Derby, this approach has already been recognised. Our Living Roofs helped Derby City Council and Bauer Media Outdoor win a Bee’s Needs Award, acknowledging the city’s efforts to support pollinators and urban biodiversity. It’s one example of how Living Roofs can support local ambitions for greener, more wildlife‑friendly places.

Why wild spaces matter

Bees and other pollinators help sustain the food systems we depend on. Green spaces can support mental wellbeing, reduce stress and make neighbourhoods feel more liveable. Even the smallest urban habitats can help people reconnect with the natural world and remind us that biodiversity is not something “out there”; it is part of the places we call home.  

More than media space

That’s why this partnership is about more than donated media space; it’s about amplifying urgent messages, giving businesses a route to advertise in ways that feel locally relevant and socially aware, and showing that commercial spaces can also contribute to nature recovery.

After five years, the impact is clear: £2m in media value, greater visibility for wildlife campaigns, an award-winning example in Derby and a growing network of more than 350 Living Roofs across the UK. As urban life continues to grow, Five Years Wilder reminds us that our cities' future should leave room for more than people. It should leave room for life.