GWCT Wales has received funding through Anglesey’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) to pursue a project working with various farms across the designated landscape.
Logan Crimp, GWCT Wales’ Agriculture and Conservation Officer, will lead on the project working closely with 4 farms across the island harnessing what they are readily doing to protect biodiversity as well as helping to collect important information regarding the varying species of wildlife found on their farm.
THE PROJECT
The project will include supplementary feeding, along with the use of trail cameras, acoustic monitors and AI cameras to monitor wildlife presence and movement. As well as engaging with local communities in the farm localities to help educate and raise awareness of the biodiversity benefits on farms.
Supplementary feeding – bird feeding buckets will be erected in sites across the 4 farms on Anglesey in order to feed the birds during the winter hungry gap. Trail cameras will identify feeding species, while the acoustic monitor will capture other bird species that might not use the feeder.
AI Cameras on gates – cameras will be located on varying gates on the 4 farms. AI technology will then recognise the species in the footage taken, monitoring the species that are present on that farm and that use the gateways to travel across the farm. (birds, mammals, livestock).
AIM OF PROJECT
The results of the project will help build a picture of the farms biodiversity, and an opportunity to showcase the benefits farming practices have. It will contribute to giving the farmers a voice about what they’re achieving from a biodiversity perspective and share this through the farming community helping to feed into Welsh policies.
ENGAGEMENT
As well as engaging with 4 farms on Anglesey, engagement with local schools, communities and young farmer groups will be part and parcel of sharing what is being done. Presence at large events such as the Anglesey Show will allow us to reach out to a wider audience. Bangor university students will also be involved in the work, with one 2nd year student heavily involved, volunteering her time and basing her dissertation on the work being done.
THE WELSH LANGUAGE
Farming plays a large role in Wales’ cultural history, where the Welsh language is at the forefront. Resources and communication with all farmers, partners and at engagement event throughout the project will all be done bilingually.
The project will feed into the GWCT Wales Farming Community, by encouraging farmers to demonstrate the great conservation work readily being done on the ground by farmers on Anglesey.
We will also encourage farmers to take part in the Big Farmland Bird Count in February.
If you’d like to hear more about the project or get involved in any way, please contact Logan Crimp, Agriculture and Conservation Officer lcrimp@gwct.org.uk
