Tracking the Impact – 2023 season ends on a high!

Tracking the Impact is an exciting landscape-scale wildlife surveying programme running across the Central Chilterns as part of the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs initiative. It offers new surveying opportunities for both experienced surveyors and the next generation through a comprehensive training package covering species ID and survey techniques. The project dovetails with existing national recording schemes, including the Breeding Bird Survey, Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey and National Plant Monitoring Scheme; thus, bolstering coverage in a ground-breaking partnership.

This year, we teamed up with the River Chess Smarter Water Catchment project to extend our survey area into the Chess catchment. This means we have upped our original coverage of 50 1km squares by a fantastic 22 squares. We also worked with the National Trust to bring in 6 more Breeding Bird Survey squares, making a grand total of 78 1km survey squares. The data we gain from our surveys will be used to track trends across the landscape over time and inform practical woodland, grassland and farmland habitat management projects.

Tracking the Impact now has more than 200 volunteers involved, either carrying out formal surveys, taking part in training courses or actively engaged in our WhatsApp group. As a result, the headline coverage for this year’s 1km survey squares is fantastic – take a look at the stats!

We have funding in place for the 2024 season and are looking at ways in which we can continue the programme once the National Lottery Heritage Funding for Chalk, Cherries and Chairs ends. We are also working nationally with the Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC) and locally with BBOWT and the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Natural Environment Partnership to look at the potential to scale Tracking the Impact up over a wider landscape area.

In the meantime, the data from our 2023 surveys are being compiled and we will be able to reveal trends and challenges very soon – so watch this space…

Tracking the Impact is part of the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs Landscape Partnership Scheme which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the HS2 Community & Engagement Fund, and managed by the Chilterns Conservation Board.