Wildlife records are collected and shared for a number of reasons but high among them is the onward use of that information for the benefit of the wildlife that has been recorded. We see it as an essential part of our role as a Local Environmental Records Centre to support this as best as we can.
As part of this activity we have just completed our update to the National Watervole Database and Mapping Project hosted and led by the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. We provide to the project any records of Water vole or American Mink. These then form part of a national database which can then be used to monitor changes in distribution of these species and warn of risks to populations of our already threatened Water vole. The project in turn can then produce annual monitoring reports on the current state of these species and update both population and risk alert maps.
More information on the project and it’s outputs (including the annual reports) can be found via the links below;
Project information: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/watervole-project
Outputs: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/watervole-project-outputs
