FROM THE CONSERVATION SECTION

Our Senior Conservation Officer Chris Howe is unavailable at the time of writing so it falls to me, as your multi-purpose Education and Publicity Officer, to say a few words about the work he manages. Given that this accounts for half of the Trust's staff, we could hardly ignore it in the magazine.

Seven of the conservation staff are directly involved in nature reserves work. The work of the other eight tends to be unseen by members but it concerns the collection, management and use of the scientific information on which the Trust is founded; our unique conservation role in Cornwall depends on it.

The conservation section's routine work includes co-operation with the county and district planning authorities to defend important wildlife site. This focuses largely on those which the Trust designates as Cornwall Nature Conservation Sites (CNC Sites).

We are able to provide this service because of our sites and records system which, since our merger with the former CBRU, has been transformed into the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS). There is much work to do in managing and developing this aspect of the Trust. At the heart of ERCCIS is our GIS (Geographical Information System), a computerised system developed in partnership with Cornwall County Council under massive EC funding. I can't tell you much about its operation, as it's beyond my comprehension, but suffice to say that it's a very powerful tool for conservation.

Aside from these essential functions, the conservation section carries out a large amount of project work: the Countryside Advisory Service, heathland LIFE Project, roadside verge report and Culm grassland inventory are just a few examples.

A blueprint for conservation

We all agree that conservation is needed, but where do we start? Without a clear strategy which sets out the current status of species and habitats, the priorities for action and the targets we intend to meet, the work of conservationists will not achieve its maximum possible effect.

These issues have now been fully addressed for the first time by the Cornwall Biodiversity Initiative. Never before have so many organisations and individuals co-operated on such a scale for the benefit of Cornwall's wildlife.

By the time you read this, Cornwall's Biodiversity Action Plan will have been launched (29th July). The story doesn't end there though - a huge amount of work by many people will be needed to implement it.

Biodiversity - or wealth of wildlife, as we prefer to call it - is part of all of our lives. To help us all make the connections, the Initiative has produced two colourful publications which I would thoroughly recommend you to read. The first is an explorer's guide (priced at £1.99, or £2.40 including post and packing), written by Angela Howard and Nicola Roberts of the Trust's consultancy company. The second is a free poster leaflet written by our Biodiversity Project Officer Charlotte Gault.

Well, there you have it - the conservation section from the Education and Publicity Officer's point of view. No doubt Chris will complete the picture in the next issue.

Mark Nicholson