Nature in the Dales
The Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of the most important areas of the United Kingdom for its rich and diverse wildlife heritage. This ranges from the wildflower rich hay meadows and pastures in the dale bottoms, through to the moorland fringe with its rush pastures so important for wading birds and the windswept uplands with their open heather moorland and blanket bog, to the unique limestone pavements.
You can find out more by choosing from the links below or in the menu.
New plans for biodiversity in the National Park
The new local biodiversity action plan, Nature in the Dales: 2020 Vision, has now officially been launched. In conjunction with this we have also released the Trends and Status report, a summary of the progress of the previous LBAP.
How you can get involved...
Over the coming years there will be a lot of surveying and monitoring of species and habitats that are listed as priorities in the new LBAP. Knowing the habitat conditions and species populations/trends is fundamental to our conservation work; without it we would be less informed about where best to target our efforts.
We would love for as many people as possible to join in; the best way to do this is to contact your local natural history group or local wildlife group and see what they are up to.
If you need help with this, you can contact us via email at wildlifeconservation@yorkshiredales.org.uk or contact Kate Wilding on 0300 456 0030.
Parish Wildlife Project
This project continues to run successfully, with one of the groups at Cowgill, Dentdale, recently re-seeding a small area with wildflower seed, to provide a colourful ground layer to the orchard trees that are to be planted continually over the course of several years.
If you have any ideas for local wildlife projects, please contact Mark Hewitt on 0300 456 0030 or email mark.hewitt@yorkshiredales.org.uk
Habitat survey 2011
The next phase of our 10 year project to re-survey the BAP habitats within the National Park is underway. This year the parishes within Upper Wharfedale will be surveyed.
The consultants, Thomson Ecology, are undertaking the survey work on behalf of the National Park.