How you can help
Budding botanists needed - beginners welcome!
We cannot hope to survey the 2000km of roads targeted over the next two years without help from volunteers throughout the project area. No-one knows more about your local roads than you do! It is very likely that volunteers, even without any survey experience, could discover some locations important to the flora of your natural area. If you can spare a few hours over the coming spring and summer, you could make a vital contribution to the most extensive wild flower survey ever conducted in Lincolnshire and its neighbouring counties.
Each approximately 1km road section only needs to be surveyed once and it should take no more than 2-3 hours to survey both sides at a slow walking pace. Where a verge is not present or no wider than 1 metre (3ft), this part need not be surveyed in detail and general notes only are sufficient.
You do not need to have identified plants before. Help is available in the form of a Life on the Verge Wild Flower ID Guide aimed at non-experts. You can download it from our 'Downloads' section or request a printed copy from the Project Officer. It includes a handy checklist of those wild flowers that are characteristic of limestone grassland and so indicate important verges. It also includes species that indicate 'poor' verges. 'Ruling-out' verges where restoration is unlikely to succeed is almost as important as learning about the best verges, so that attention can be focused on the places of highest conservation value.
Free training events have been organised throughout the area to help you familiarise yourself with local limestone grassland plants. Each session lasts 3 to 4 hours and will combine a short talk indoors with a field trip to a local nature reserve. This will be a great opportunity to learn a few wild flowers and understand more about the local habitat in which they grow. Check the list of events below and contact us to book a place and for directions.
Grimsthorpe Estate Conference Centre
and SSSI areas on Estate Grounds
- Wednesday 19th May ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Sunday 20th June ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Sunday 4th July ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
Rutland Water Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre
Followed by a field trip to Bloody Oaks Quarry Nature Reserve
and nearby roadside verges
- Sunday 23rd May ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Friday 4th June ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Saturday 19th June ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
Ancaster Village Hall and Ancaster Valley SSSI
- Saturday 15th May ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Saturday 29th May ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Saturday 5th June ~ 10.00am to 2.00pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
- Saturday 12th June ~ 10.00am to 2.30pm. * * FULLY BOOKED * *
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Joining instructions for each venue can be downloaded from the Downloads page. |
Links to venues
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Grimsthorpe |
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Rutland Water Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre |
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Bloody Oaks Quarry |
How your survey will help
By taking part in this roadside verge survey, you will contribute vital information to help secure a future for wildlife. The project aims to identify the most important roadside verges for limestone grassland species throughout the Lincolnshire and Rutland Limestone Natural Area by surveying as much as possible of the 4000km/1250 miles of verge in the area. Once those verges that still retain lots of wild flowers have been identified, the Wildlife Trusts can begin to manage them appropriately with the co-operation of landowners, local authorities and highways maintenance contractors. It is also important to know which verges have lost important wildlife, so that resources can be focused on those of greatest value.
