Resources
Starting a community conservation group or even changing the way you look after your garden can seem like a daunting task. We hope the resources provided on this page can help to ease the way and make it easier for people to take action for nature.
Here we provide some template forms, general advice on management of some habitats and links to other sites that can provide advice and support. For more information and the latest updates sign up to our quarterly e-newsletter. Is there something not on this page that you would find useful? Get in touch at: enquiries@herefordshirewt.co.uk
Useful links
Meadows
Herefordshire Meadows are a local group working to support and develop wildflower meadows across Herefordshire: https://www.herefordshiremeadows.org.uk/
Ponds
For local experts on amphibians and reptiles: http://herefordhart.org.uk/.
The freshwater habitats trust have information on pond creation and management: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/projects/million-ponds/pond-creation-toolkit/
Woodland
The local network of tree wardens monitor and help protect trees throughout the county and can be found here: https://htreewardens.org.uk/.
The Woodland Trust have a number of reserves in Herefordshire and their website has lots of advice on tree planting and woodland management: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/
Local verges and wildflower areas
The Bumblebee conservation Trust have produced a useful document on how to work with your local authority to improve the area for bumblebees and other pollinators: https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/images/uploads/Local_authorities_pack_full.pdf
Community Gardens
Social Farms & Gardens have a range of resources covering everything from insurance to selling produce, from keeping livestock to working with young people: https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/resources
Wildlife recording
Recording your wildlife sightings can help with everything from habitat management to planning applications. The more we know about the species in different areas the more we can help them to thrive. There are plenty of ways to record your sightings, and plenty of species specific projects around the UK. We have listed a few below:
irecord, a national database for recording sightings - https://irecord.org.uk/home
Hedgehog street, maps hedgehogs across the UK and enables you to team up with neighbours to create hedgehog highways - https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-our-hedgehog-street-campaign/
Discovering reptiles, run by Froglife the Dragonfinder app helps you to identify and record reptile sightings - https://www.froglife.org/what-we-do/education/discovering-reptiles/
Herefordshire Wildlife Trust is not responsible for the contents of any other sites listed. Nor does the inclusion of a link imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by the charity.
Webinars, training and courses - providers
Habitat and species ID
The Wildlife Trusts often run online and in person training courses and a full list of upcoming events from all trusts can be found here: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/events.
The FSC (Field Studies Council) are running a project called Biolinks until 2022, providing a mixture of free and low cost courses both in person and online. Upcoming courses can be viewed here: https://www.field-studies-council.org/biolinks-courses/.
Other FSC courses can be accessed here: https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/
CIEEM (Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management) over a number of courses including habitat surveying courses: https://cieem.net/i-am/continuing-professional-development/upcoming-training-and-events/
Herefordshire Biological records centre are running a project called Hidden Herefordshire, as part of this they are providing a range of different courses: https://hbrc.org.uk/
Template Risk Assessment
Below are a number of template risk assessments. These should be considered templates only.
Funding Opportunities
The attached document has a selection of current available funding opportunities and will be updated periodically.