Habitats come in many different shapes and sizes within your local area. At first you may think your local area has few wildlife habitats, but take a walk and you may be surprised by the diversity. Hedgerows adorned with blackberries; the village green, covered with daisies and buttercups; the churchyard with its ivy-clad walls and large native trees; the village duck pond, which is also home to frogs during the spring; the school playing field with its area of long grass. A basic habitat survey will help you map the habitats within your parish, and can lead to you identifying areas where you can carry out other more detailed wildlife and habitat surveys.
What is a habitat survey?
A habitat survey (also known as a Phase 1 Habitat Survey) will involve walking around your parish to map out the main habitats present such as, woodland, farmland, hedgrows.
The survey will also highlight key features present in the landscape such as ancient trees, ponds and other water bodies. It will also help you build up a picture of what is in your parish and how different habitats can be linked up, for example areas of woodland linked by a hedgerow.
Taking it further…
Your habitat survey can be used to:
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Identify areas of habitat which may be important for local wildlife.
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Inspire further surveys on particular features, e.g. hedgerows, ponds or the historic environment.
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Create a future vision to show how the local area could be improved for wildlife.
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Inform planners of the important habitats present so that development can take this into account.
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Work with landowners to manage the parish for wildlife.
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Update the Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, Norfolk's local records centre with details of the habitats present in your parish.
Why not start a simple survey today?