In this month’s Animal Magic column, Elijah Ford explains how everyone can get involved in nature conservation efforts to record UK species and contribute to biodiversity science.
By Elijah Ford
This month at All Things Wild has been all about searching for nature all over our site, all in the name of research
Throughout March, I have been surveying one of our nature ponds for frogs and toads as part of the annual amphibian surveys which are coordinated by Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.
Every week in March I have been going out and spending an hour by the pond, trying to observe as many individual frogs and toads as possible.
Elijah Ford from All Things Wild . Picture by Marcus Mingins 4925007MMR1
We also record other information like what stage of life they’re in and what behaviours they are displaying, with all of this information being incredibly important to informing conservation efforts for each individual species.
This data can help display where populations are increasing and decreasing, which will equip Amphibian and Reptile Conservation with the knowledge of where they need to be focusing their work.
But it’s not just amphibian surveys we are doing this month, we are also excited to be participating in the spring BIAZA BioBlitz.
The pond that has been surveyed for frogs and toads. s
This is a week-long competition running from March 23 to 29 between all of the zoos in the UK to see who can observe the most nature on our site.
We do this by taking photos of all the plants and animals we find, and upload them to the iNaturalist app, which logs all of our observations on a leaderboard.
Last time we took part in the competition we finished fourth in the UK, beating out some of the country’s biggest zoos, so we can’t wait to take part again.
My personal favourite observation was spotting a small Common Blue Butterfly out in the wild meadow.
A BioBlitz is where a group of people come together to try and find as many plant and animal species as possible in a specific area and time frame.
The family nature pond where a lot of BioBlitzing takes place. s
The event is an informal and fun way for youngsters and other members of the public to learn alongside experts, and share and develop their enthusiasm for nature.
Just like the amphibian surveys, it provides an amazing set of data that can show population changes while also engaging everyone in caring for their local nature.
The iNaturalist app is free to download and use, and any observations you can upload to the app goes to support important conservation work across the country.
As part of our Nature in the Neighbourhood campaign, we have a project set up on iNaturalist for Honeybourne.
A member of the team taking part in the last BIAZA Bioblitz competition. s
This means all observations uploaded in the village will be compiled in one place, creating a map of all the nature that can be found in the area.
Our BioBlitz is also open to everyone visiting the park, so come along and help us rise up the leaderboard.
Our Conservation Academy, a group of 13-16 year olds passionate about conservation, will be coming in to help us in our efforts, and we would love to see as many people taking part in our Bioblitz as possible.
Visit: https://www.allthingswild.co.uk/conservation/ for details on conservation at All Things Wild.
