In 2023 Cumbria Local Nature Partnership brought together partners including Cumberland Council, Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Lake District National Park, Natural England, Yorkshire Dales National Park, and Westmorland & Furness Council to develop a project focussed on Cumbria’s special County Wildlife Sites (CWS).
County Wildlife Sites are areas of land that are especially important for their wildlife. They are some of the most valuable areas for nature, identified and selected locally using scientifically-determined criteria and surveys. There are more than 1600 CWS in Cumbria but many haven’t been monitored for decades. This lack of condition data is a national issue and means these important places are at risk from from development pressures and inappropriate or lack of management..
Thanks to funding from Cumberland Council, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Lake District National Park, Natural England, Yorkshire Dales National Park, and Westmorland & Furness Council a project team were appointed in early 2024 and work restarted on these important places.
The team’s initial work involved analysing the County Wildlife Sites across Cumbria to see what type of habitat they are, where they are located, and what ownership data is recorded for each site. Free surveys were offered to the people who owned County Wildlife Sites, survey methodologies and techniques were updated to better use new technology, and the Site Selection Panel of local experts was reconvened.
In March 2024 surveying started, with a small team of two field officers prioritising habitat type based on the season. To date 60 sites have been resurveyed with 25 further permissions secured for 2025 so far.
Once sites were surveyed the information was written up into a report for the Site Selection Panel who assessed whether the designation remains valid, whether it needs to be deselected, or whether management changes are needed to protect the special characteristics it’s been recognised for.
Alongside surveying, the project team have also been working with other organisations including RSPB, North Pennines National Landscape, Solway Coast National Landscape, National Trust, Natural England, Westmorland & Furness Council, and Cumberland Council to look at existing datasets to draw together more information for sites where it exists.
The project has also been working with Local Nature Recovery Strategy teams and with Local Wildlife Site representatives from across the country to ensure the data being collected can help inform local and national policy around commitments to understanding the condition of habitat in England and delivering a nature recovery network.
The project will continue into 2025. To find out more visit County Wildlife Sites | Cumbria Wildlife Trust
