Between November 2015 and 2016, the Nature of Our Village project set out to identify the state of biodiversity in Penparcau, which is populated by 3,000 people and covers 190 acres—hectares, I should say—and is where I live. Three hundred and sixty nine volunteers created wildlife records. Some highlights of these records include: three new bumble bees spotted, five other bee species were identified, a palmate newt was spotted on Pen Dinas for the very first time, and a feathered gothic moth was re-found, and identified, for the first time since 1937.

The project encouraged local people to gain the skills to recognise and record the wildlife on their own doorstep, increasing the public understanding about wildlife, and the threats it faces. The project used social media, particularly Facebook, to recruit volunteers and advertise surveys, and also to encourage the community, in turn, to share their own wildlife discoveries.

The national state of nature report highlighted the lack of base data we have for much of our environment, as indeed does the state of natural resources report. So, citizen science, such as this project in Penparcau, and the Capturing Our Coast project, can fill in important gaps and assist public bodies to respond to local needs.

My thanks and congratulations to Chloe Griffiths, who led the project, and Penparcau Community Forum, West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre, and the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales for their hard work. I now look forward to the next Nature of Our Village report, in 2018