Prodding, bashing, sucking, tracking and chasing – the Trust’s Bio-Survey Team covers some of the most important habitats in the country. Their quest? To judge the resources needed to help conserve and enhance wildlife and vegetation throughout the Trust. Look out for them in a field near you soon.
  
'We survey 30-40 properties a year,’ says Andy Foster, team leader and Invertebrate Ecologist. ‘And over the past 30 years, have covered 93 per cent of the Trust and produced over 1,300 reports,’ adds Pete Brash. Along with Richard Allen and Gordon Barker, they form the four-strong in-house team who play a vital role in enabling wildlife conservation resources to be focused where they are needed.
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We quizzed the team, and here is the result:
What is the purpose of the bio-surveys?
Surveys provide a snapshot of habitats and species so we can meet our conservation responsibilities. They also keep us fit! We present the information in a non-technical way to be used on a daily basis by property staff to manage, protect or enhance the wildlife on a property.
What does the job involve?
Running around with a butterfly net! We have very limited time and sometimes cover 100ha a day. Marsden Moor only took a week! We rush around swishing various devices, trying to catch insects but also noting signs of mammals, birds or identifying plants and mapping vegetation patterns.
Small insects and 5,000ha: where do you begin?
Coffee! A chat with the knowledgeable and enthusiastic property staff will often reveal the best places to look but most knowledge comes from practical field experience. A lighter shade of grass can be enough to indicate a field has not been ploughed or fertilised and is worth exploring. Nature gives us plenty of clues. Indicator species suggest the presence of other rarer plants and animals.
So, best job at the Trust?
If it wasn’t a job we’d all do it in our spare time. On a sunny day, at a beautiful site, the Trust’s land is matchless. Unfortunately, we work outdoors in the UK. Throughout last summer there was only one day Pete managed to keep his feet dry!
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In 2005 we surveyed the newly acquired Southwood Estate in Pembrokeshire and discovered:
- Five incredibly rare flowers in the barley fields, including corn marigolds. These are five out of 495 currently registered in the Red Data Book of endangered and rare plants.
- The margins of arable fields, such as those at Southwood, are a Priority Habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. These are internationally important but rapidly declining habitats. There are 40 others, almost all found on Trust land.
- On a national level, we recognised that the Southwood Estate was important and especially significant for Wales where there are few sites as good.
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