Flora project

Cam Valley Wildlife Group Flora Project

Project Leader: Helena Crouch

Project Aims:

  • To identify and record the flora of the Cam Valley Wildlife Group area

  • To increase members’ interest in, and enjoyment and knowledge of, the plant species and communities of our local area

Project Activities:

  • Regular botanical walks and excursions, making detailed plant records

  • Continual botanical education and development of interest in our flora

  • Talks on the local flora

  • Submission of records to the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) and to the Local Record Centres (BRERC and SERC)

  • Networking with other relevant organisations: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, Somerset Rare Plants Group, Bath Natural History Society, Bristol Naturalists’ Society, and other local botanists

  • Producing a publication (one day) on the flora of the Cam and Wellow Valleys

Project Achievements:

  • From 1997 to 1999 CVWG botanists gathered data for inclusion in the New Atlas of the British & Irish Flora (published in 2002)

  • The CVWG Flora Recording Project developed from this; 2022 was the twenty-sixth year of recording

  • Over 65,000 plant records have now been made on regular CVWG botany walks

  • More than 1000 plant species have been recorded during the weekly botany walks in the Cam & Wellow Valleys

  • Over 250 members and guests have participated in walks over the last 25 years

  • All records are sent to the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, contributing to their constantly updated online maps of species distributions (see bsbidb.org.uk)

  • Data gathered from 2000 to 2019 will contribute to the third Atlas of the British & Irish Flora (to be published in 2023)

  • Records are also sent to the Local Record Centres, where they help inform surveys required for planning applications, etc.

  • Records for the rarer species are being included in the Rare Plant Register for Somerset (see www.somersetrareplantsgroup.org.uk)

How to get involved:

CVWG botany walks are held weekly from April to September, each week at a different location within the CVWG recording area, or further afield. For more information please contact Helena via helenacrouch@sky.com

Drawing: Oxeye Daisy by  Ann Mead – not to be reproduced without permission

Header photo: Round-leaved Fluellen (Kickxsia spuria)

This project outline can be downloaded here.