Keeping track of the wildlife in Devon
Devon Biodiversity Record Centre is delighted to have had some of our work on the Bradley Bug Project mentioned in the Mid Devon Advertiser. Our botanicals and Projects Officer Phil Sansum carried out a botanicals survey onsite, identifying 52 native flowering plant species. You can read the full article here.
For more information on the habitat survey services DBRC can providem click here or contact a member of our staff to discuss your project further.
There are approximately 2,200 County Wildlife Sites (CWS) across Devon comprising a range of habitats and species. Unlike Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), CWS are not legally protected but comprise a network of non-statutory wildlife sites. Some CWS, however, can be of similar ecological quality to SSSIs.
To find out more about County Wildlife Site Criteria, click here.
The Biodiversity Monitoring Framework (BMF) is one of the largest habitat monitoring projects in the UK. It is a complex project with an overall aim of finding out how the wildlife of Devon is faring. The main part of the project involves surveying a number of existing County Wildlife Sites (CWS) following a specific methodology each year. The information gathered helps to monitor the quality of individual CWS over time but to also determine patterns of change in habitats across the county as a whole.
This project has been running since 2009 and during the first five years, approximately 500 CWS were surveyed as a part of the BMF project. Many of these sites had not been surveyed since the early 1990s. DBRC carry out the majority of the surveys but a number have been carried out by partner organisations such as Devon Wildlife Trust’s Working Wetlands team and Dartmoor National Park Authority.
Following the survey, landowners are given a report for their CWS providing detailed information on the habitats present and recommended management advice tailored specifically to their site. We can also forward landowners to sources of further advice and/or funding.
All of the information gathered is fed into annual reports, compiled by Devon County Council, which review trends in Devon’s natural environment.
For more information about the BMF project please contact us at countywildlifesites@dbrc.org.uk