Recording and Monitoring Schemes
Monitoring means recording the wildlife and ecology of the same site over a number of years and helps us to understand how that environment is changing. If enough sites are regularly monitored, we can begin to build up a picture of the changing face of Wiltshire. Although the WSBRC receives records from a great many sources, the majority are provided by volunteers involved in one of its recording and monitoring schemes.
By drawing together and mapping the distribution of species and habitats across the county, it is possible to identify where conservation effort needs to be targeted and where scarce resources are best allocated, the basis of the Biodiversity Action Plans. Knowing where key habitats and species are located is also important in ensuring that wildlife interests are properly considered in the local authority planning process.
Whilst the expertise of the County Recorders contributes most to building up a picture of Wiltshire’s biodiversity, records from the general public of familiar species are also more important than is generally supposed.
County Recorders
They are a network of volunteer experts in species identification who co-ordinate the collection of records for their particular interest group and check the accuracy of records received by the WSBRC for that group.
Habitat Surveying
This new project started in 2007 is to help us build up a comprehensive map of all habitat types for the whole of Wiltshire and Swindon; this will be held in electronic format using a Geographical Information System (GIS) and will be used for similar purposes to our species records. Currently 25-30% of the County has been mapped, and so we would welcome any interested volunteers to assist in gathering more up to date and/or missing information.
Protected Road Verge Scheme
Roadside verges strewn with wild flowers, on chalk downland and limestone grassland, are one of the distinctive aspects of the Wiltshire countryside. Under a scheme begun in 1970, around fifty road verges throughout the county are designated as Protected Road Verges because of their special habitat, species or ecological interest. sites are visited at least once a year and reports are sent to us. There are a number of vacances for new monitors
River Monitoring Scheme
Volunteers receive training to carry out regular surveys of selected stretches of Wiltshire’s rivers. They survey for particular invertebrate species that are good indicators of water quality as well as plants, birds and mammals. There is currently no limit on the number of monitors but all must undergo training.
Wildlife Counts!
It was the dramatic loss of ‘common garden birds’ such as the House Sparrow and Song Thrush that first drew attention to problems of habitat loss in the wider countryside. This is why the Wildlife Counts Project was established. It is a project aimed at making it easy for you to send in records, as there are no complicated or intensive surveys to be done. The idea is that you wander around an area local to you, looking out for any wildlife and making a note of where and when you see it. This provides an excellent introduction to recording for anyone.
To get involved with any of the monitoring schemes, contact the WSBRC.
Surveyors Pack
For more information download our surveyors pack. Choose from either the whole pack or just the items you’re interested in. The complete surveyors pack includes information on all the dedicated schemes along with recording forms for single and multiple species, recommended reading and other useful information.
The separate sections are:
Notes for volunteers
Particular interest groups
Risk assessment
Single species recording form Multiple species recording form
General species recording form
Recommended reading guides Lyme & Leptospirosis information
