Tracking the Impact
If you are passionate about protecting wildlife, would like to carry out bird, butterfly or plant surveys in unexplored areas of the Chilterns, or want to improve your ID skills, then Tracking the Impact could be for you!
Why should you get involved?
Learn new skills, benefit from a wide range of free training, and improve your knowledge of local birds, plants and butterflies. Join in with surveying and your work will be of vital importance – helping us to understand the state of nature at a local level and feeding into a wide range of national initiatives, including the Breeding Bird Survey, Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey and National Plant Monitoring Scheme.
What is Tracking the Impact?
Tracking the Impact is an exciting landscape-scale wildlife surveying programme running across the Central Chilterns as part of the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs Landscape Partnership scheme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and HS2 Community & Engagement Fund. It offers surveying opportunities and training packages for both experienced surveyors and the next generation. The project dovetails with existing national recording schemes, including the Breeding Bird Survey, Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey and National Plant Monitoring Scheme, bolstering coverage locally and nationally.
In 2023, we teamed up with the River Chess Smarter Water Catchment project to extend our survey area into the Chess catchment, upping our original coverage of 50 1km squares by a fantastic 22 squares. We also worked with the National Trust to bring in 6 more Breeding Bird Survey squares, making a grand total of 781 km survey squares. The data we gain from our surveys will be used to track trends across the landscape over time and inform practical woodland, grassland and farmland habitat management projects.
Our 2024 season is underway and we are looking at how we can continue the programme once the National Lottery Heritage Funding for Chalk, Cherries and Chairs ends. We are also working with the Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC), BBOWT and the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Natural Environment Partnership to look at the potential to scale Tracking the Impact up over a wider landscape area.
The results so far
We have seen some incredible results so far – in the first three years of the project, our team of volunteers has helped reach 73% coverage of our project area, and has amassed more than 20,000 records! All of the records for the survey squares have been entered onto our online interactive maps, so you can see for yourself what birds, butterfly and plants have been recorded and where.
TTI results - Plants TTI results - Butterflies TTI results - Birds
Identifying long-term trends
One of the long term objectives of the project is to build a dataset that helps us to look at and review the impact of the great work farmers and other landowners are doing to support wildlife. We are doing this by tracking the distribution and abundance of our bird, butterfly and plant populations year-on-year. By doing so, we hope to be able get a better idea of what’s happening across the landscape.
We can review the impact of our work by using Tracking the Impact records for key bird, butterfly and plant species that we feel are typical indicators of our grassland, woodland, river and farmed habitats.
It will take a number of years of surveying to get a reliable dataset that can really show trends. But, in the short term, we have pulled together maps of the key species, where they have been recorded, and how many have been recorded to help build a baseline. Data will be added to this analysis each year and, in time, we hope to spot patterns and identify trends.
The maps for the first four years (2020-23) of data for the key species are available to download below – watch this space in the next few years as our datasets grow!
Online training for citizen scientists
We provide a number of informative online training sessions. These should give you a sense of the wide range of experts and enthusiasts we have feeding into our group of around 200 volunteers, and the great knowledge sharing opportunities offered by our regular meet-ups and WhatsApp group. You can watch our training sessions from 2023 in the playlist below.
Our partner organisations
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Take part in 2025
The main recruitment season is over, however if you would like to register your interest for next year, please do so here: Register your interest here.
Whether you interest is in birds, butterflies and/or plants, we offer exciting opportunities to:
- take on new survey squares and get involved in national recording schemes
- receive training in species ID and survey techniques
- offer training and support to new volunteer surveyors
By getting involved in the project, you will make a big difference to local wildlife in the Chilterns and contribute to national recording schemes. You will also get the chance to meet with other surveyors and get feedback on the project at regular workshops and events.
Related news
Think before you fell
Sometimes cutting trees down, known as felling, is necessary to help keep our woodlands healthy and safe for people to enjoy.
Journey through the Chilterns with Chalk, Cherries and Chairs
Join the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs Landscape Partnership on a journey showcasing a small part of what the project has achieved in its five and a half years.
Chess Smarter Water Catchment team features in “The Ripple Effect”
Recently our River Chess Smarter Water Catchment team were delighted to contribute towards an ambitious digital campaign spearheaded by The Chartered Institution of Water and Environment Management (CIWEM) and in collaboration with Content With Purpose (CWP).
Volunteering hub
Bookable experiences
The Management Plan for the Chilterns National Landscape
Chess Smarter Water Catchment
