The Fenland Biodiversity Audit
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Environmental Record Centre (CPERC) is currently working in partnership with University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Wildlife Trust BCNP (WT) on a project to describe the biodiversity present within the Fenland National Character Area.
Working with the same UEA team that produced the Breckland Biodiversity Audit, the first phase of the project involves sourcing credible species records for the project area. Working in conjunction with the NBN, CPERC is contacting the many providers of data that post data to the NBN for the project area, but that currently do not submit records to their Local Record Centre (LRC).
Because of the need for spatial accuracy CPERC is requesting access to data at full resolution as it is important for a project such as this for data to be assigned the correct spatial reference so as to not introduce unnecessary inaccuracies and dilute the results. Now in the initiation stage, the Fenland Biodiversity Audit will run in three distinct phases, each completed consecutively by the three main partners until the middle of 2012 when a Final Report, containing recommendations from the analysis is produced and launch event is planned.
Starting with an extensive and detailed search of data archives, grey literature and novel sources, the first phase will seek to collate a definitive collection of species records for the Fenland NCA. It is envisaged that this will take until mid-December 2011. The collated data will be checked by a team of local experts to be invited to a species ID workshop in January 2012. Data will then be handed over for analysis by the UEA team in mid-January in order to identify species groups based around a Guild classification and utilising a methodology developed for the Breckland Biodiversity Audit. The UEA element will take approximately three months and conclude in the spring of April 2012. During the final phase, the WT will write up a Final Report setting out land management plans for species assemblages based around the analysis conducted by the UEA team.
The data will be used specifically for this project in the first instance, for which it will be held separately from CPERC’s standard database and only used with its project academic partners. If however, CPERC are granted permission concurrently for use of this data for other records centre purposes, such as, for use with local authority planners and for specific data queries, they would appreciate this secondary use permission.
If you have any questions on this project you can contact John Cornell, CPERC Manager on john.cornell@cperc.org.uk
The Fenland Biodiversity Audit has been made possible thanks to financial support from Natural England, the Environment Agency, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Biodiversity Partnership, Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership and the National Trust.