Common Plants Survey 2008

What is the Common Plants Survey?

The Common Plants Survey is a long-term project monitoring changes to the wild flowers in our countryside. It is the only national annual survey of wild plants in the UK. Plantlife Director Dr Jayne Manley explains, 'This year we are looking to substantially increase the numbers of volunteers taking part, to glean an accurate a picture as possible of the health of our wild plants. External factors are having an enormous impact on our environment and, in the past five years since the survey started, we are already recording significant changes in the countryside.The success of the Common Plants Survey rests entirely on volunteers and it is vital that we hit our recruitment target to really make a difference.

©Simon Williams /Plantlife

How to get involved

If you are already taking part in the survey, thank you for your good work. It is incredibly important that you continue to monitor your area. This way we will be able to determine trends in species over time, which will provide invaluable information about the UK countryside.

If you would like to help with the Common Plants Survey please ring 01722 342755 and leave your contact details or email your address to enquiries@plantlife.org.uk. We will then send you our free information pack containing all the guidance you will need to take part.

If you need assistance with any aspect of the survey, please phone 01722 342756 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), 01786 479382 in Scotland or e-mail us at the address above. If you need help reading Ordnance Survey maps or would like a copy of the landowner permission letter, please follow the links on the right, where you can also download the Common Plant Survey 'Getting Started Guide'.

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Aim of the Common Plants Survey

The Common Plants Survey aims to build up a picture of the health of our countryside. Common species have been undervalued in the past as attention has been focused on rare species. However, common species play pivotal roles in ecosystems, providing habitats and food for our fauna. As such, common species exist as the foundation upon which the rest of our wildlife depends. They can therefore be used as indicators to gain an insight in to the health of our countryside

This is an ambitious project and we need your help to carry it through. Volunteers are not only important in providing data, but also in providing feedback and enabling us to develop a robust methodology. Please join us and play your part in the survey.

We have carefully chosen a set of 65 of the UK's common plants that are both easy to identify, such as Primrose, and indicative of particular habitats, such as ancient woodlands. We ask participants to look for these plants in randomly selected 1km squares close to where they live. By surveying these random squares each year, we hope to build up a picture of the state of the British countryside.

Random 1km squares are allocated because otherwise people might only survey areas where they know some of the 65 plants grow. Though this would be useful data, it would provide too rosy an outlook and not an accurate picture of the state of our common plants and their habitats.

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What we are working towards

At the end of project, we intend to produce a detailed overview of the selected plant species and their habitats. The survey is intended to complement the Government's Countryside Survey, and is also designed to:

• measure change for habitat-related groups of species rather than at the individual species level
• provide a much more instant 'snap shot'
• be more achievable by volunteers.

Findings from both surveys will help us to gain a better picture of the health of our countryside.

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