Welcome to WILDthings!

The WILDthings Partnership coordinates local biodiversity activity across the Bath & NE Somerset area. This web site provides all you need to know about WILDthings, our biodiversity action plans (BAPs) and progress towards them. Visit often to find out what's going on and how to get involved ...

So what is Biodiversity?

Six diverse species
'Biodiversity' is short for 'biological diversity' – the total variety of all living things. This includes all plants and animals, as well as the places and spaces in which they live. Read the background to local action for biodiversity

Out and About

Check out the host of WILDthings events going on throughout the summer and autumn. You can also get involved in current WILDthings projects on council-owned land and Local Nature Reserves.

Priorities

Action across the Bath & North East Somerset area is targeted at species and habitats of greatest conservation value, delivering both national and local conservation targets. In 2004, the Partnership agreed and published a Long List which included 11 habitats and over 450 species. From this, a Short List of 11 priority species and 5 priority habitats was produced.

Bath & North East Somerset specific, 3 year Action Plans are now being created for these priority Short List species and habitats and so far 3 habitat and 7 species plans have been written.

The Short List is under review and species and habitats may well be added in the future.
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News in Brief

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Best Year ever for Charlcombe Lane Toad Rescue

Between the begining of February 2009 and the end of March record numbers of toads, frogs and newts were collected from Charlcombe Lane and released in fields and woodland edges to allow them to carry on with their migration to breeding ponds in the valley .

This year's results; figures in brackets are the numbers from 2003.
Toads 1991 alive,(678) 87 dead,(49)
Frogs 568 alive, (94) 27 dead,(7)
Newts 289 alive (67) 54 dead,(7)

The increase in numbers of animals recorded may partly be due to the increase in the number of enthusiastic volunteers who turned up every evening, wet or cold to help. Thanks are due to local residents who also helped and to the careful motorists who drove slowly along the lane ,often stopping to enquire on progress.

Have you looked at the Bristol Region Environmental Record Centre recently?

This is our local environmental record centre which keeps data on wildlife and geology in the Bath & North East Somerset Area.
In recent years volunteers in many of the rural parishes have been carrying out a survey of rural field boundaries. The survey recorded the presence, condition and management of dry stone walls, hedgerows and hedges. These features make an important contribution to the appearance and character of the countryside and provide wildlife with a rich habitat and green corridors within which to move around safely.

A set of three maps have been prepared by the record centre for some of these surveyed parishes which record the hedgerows and hedges, the condition of their management and the key wildlife species and habitats found there.
The latest sets of maps are for the parishes of Whitchurch and Chew Magna, These maps can be viewed on the BRERC web site www.brerc.org.uk