Tell Somerset's story

It's really important that we understand what's happening to wildlife in the county both in terms of the biodiversity and abundance of species. Without an understanding of the health, distribution and location of habitats and species we can't make the best decisions for nature’s recovery. If we don't notice wildlife declines, we run the risk of losing species forever.

But where are we starting from?  Our environmental records centre, SERC, holds millions of species records but most are for protected or rare species within higher quality habitats. There is a gap in our knowledge about the numbers and locations of more ‘common’ species such as hedgehogs, bumblebees and blackbirds. With your help, we'll fill those gaps and use our collective data to improve the impact of our Nature Recovery Network.

With SERC, through our Team Wilder programme, we will be running seasonal community science initiatives that support the work of Somerset’s specialist species’ groups and we'll be providing training to help more people develop recording and monitoring skills.  It's early days for this part of our strategy but watch this space for more updates. 

And in the meantime...

Check out our latest citizen science project below.  The Frog & Toad Spawn Count is the first count as part of our Great Somerset Wildlife Count initiative. Tune in to your inner citizen scientist and hop to it and help us monitor our aquatic friends and the watery habitats they call home.