Reporting Habitat Loss

See It · Record It · Monitor It · Protect It

Habitats can take decades or centuries to develop and only minutes to damage.

A hedgerow can be removed in an afternoon. Trees can be felled. A species-rich meadow can be flailed or drained. A stream can be polluted, riverbank vegetation removed, or an important wildlife corridor severed before the wider community is aware of what has happened.

The Cwmaman Rights of Nature initiative provides a practical way for local people and Nature Guardians to record these changes.

Using Epicollect5 for field recording and EcoWatch Monitor for monitoring new reports, observations can become part of a continuing record of the health of our local environment.

The principle is simple:

OBSERVE → RECORD → MONITOR → RESPOND

Why Report Habitat Loss?

Environmental protection depends upon evidence.

People may remember that a hedgerow once existed, that a field was formerly rich in wildflowers or that trees once bordered a stream. But without photographs, dates and locations, environmental change can quickly disappear from the collective memory.

Recording what happens creates evidence.

A single observation may document one incident. Many observations collected over time can reveal something much more important: patterns of change across the landscape.

Reporting habitat loss therefore helps create an environmental memory for Cwmaman.

What is Habitat Loss?

Habitat loss does not necessarily mean the complete destruction of a woodland, meadow or wetland.

It can include significant damage or alteration that reduces the ability of a place to support its community of life.

Examples might include:

• tree felling or significant tree damage;

• hedgerow removal;

• destruction or inappropriate management of species-rich grassland;

• damage to rhos pasture or marshy grassland;

• drainage of wetlands;

• pollution of rivers, streams or ponds;

• removal of riverbank vegetation;

• infilling or alteration of ponds;

• destruction of wildlife corridors;

• dumping or contamination;

• inappropriate vegetation clearance; and

• damage to important breeding, nesting, feeding or sheltering habitat.

Not every change to a habitat is unlawful.

The purpose of reporting is therefore first and foremost to record what has been observed accurately, rather than to decide who is responsible or whether an offence has occurred.

Epicollect5

Recording What Happens in the Landscape

The Cwmaman Rights of Nature initiative uses Epicollect5, a mobile and web-based data collection platform, to provide a structured way of recording habitat loss.

A report can be made while an observer or Nature Guardian is in the field using a smartphone or other suitable device.

Depending upon the observation, a record can include:

• date;

• observer;

• habitat affected;

• type of loss or damage;

• severity;

• approximate area affected;

• GPS location;

• photographs; and

• additional observations.

The combination of location, date, description and photographic evidence is particularly valuable.

Instead of simply saying:

"There used to be a hedge here,"

it becomes possible to create a geographically referenced and dated record showing what was observed.

What Should You Record?

Good environmental reporting begins with observation.

Where?

Record the location as accurately as possible. GPS can provide a geographic position for the observation.

When?

Record the date and, when relevant, the approximate time.

What Happened?

Describe what you can actually see.

For example:

"Approximately 30 metres of hedgerow appears to have been recently removed."

is preferable to:

"Someone has illegally destroyed this hedge."

The first statement records an observation.

The second makes an accusation that may require evidence beyond what the observer can see.

What Habitat Was Affected?

Identify the habitat where possible — for example woodland, hedgerow, river, stream, pond, wetland, rhos pasture, meadow, scrub or another habitat.

How Much Was Affected?

An approximate length or area can help indicate the scale of an incident.

There is no need to enter private property or put yourself at risk to obtain an exact measurement.

Take Photographs

Photographs can provide valuable evidence.

A wide photograph can show the setting and extent of the change, while closer photographs can record particular features.

Repeated photographs from the same location can also provide an important record of change over time.

EcoWatch Monitor

Making Sure Reports Are Seen

Recording an environmental observation is only the first stage.

EcoWatch Monitor complements Epicollect5 by providing a monitoring and alerting function for new environmental reports.

The two systems therefore perform different but complementary roles:

Epicollect5 records and stores the observation.

EcoWatch Monitor watches for new reports so that they can be noticed and reviewed.

Together they provide the practical monitoring framework supporting community-based habitat reporting.

From Observation to Action

The process can be understood in four stages.

1. OBSERVE

A Nature Guardian or member of the community notices a significant environmental change.

2. RECORD

The observation is recorded through Epicollect5, including the available location, photographs and description.

3. MONITOR

EcoWatch Monitor watches for new reports so that significant observations do not simply remain unnoticed within the database.

4. RESPOND

Where appropriate, the observation can be reviewed and the matter referred to the organisation or public authority responsible for that particular environmental issue.

Not every report will require further action.

But every reliable report contributes to our knowledge of what is happening to the landscape.

The Role of Nature Guardians

Nature Guardians are an important part of this system.

A guardian may become familiar with a particular stream, woodland, meadow, pond, hedgerow, park or wildlife corridor.

Regular observation creates something that occasional surveys cannot always provide:

knowledge of what is normal for that particular place.

A person who walks beside the same stream every week may immediately notice unusual discolouration.

Someone who knows a meadow throughout the seasons may notice a sudden change in its management.

A guardian of a woodland may recognise when trees or understorey vegetation have disappeared.

Technology does not replace this local knowledge.

It helps record it.

Record Facts, Not Accusations

Habitat reporting should be objective.

Record what you can see rather than attempting to determine responsibility.

Avoid identifying or confronting individuals.

Whether an activity was authorised, lawful or environmentally inappropriate may need to be established by the relevant authority.

The observer's role is much simpler:

Record good evidence of what happened, where it happened and when it happened.

Personal Safety

Never place yourself at risk to make an environmental report.

Do not enter private land without permission.

Do not approach working machinery or unstable trees.

Do not enter polluted water or dangerous terrain.

Do not confront landowners, contractors or other individuals.

Observations should be made only from places where you are legally entitled and safe to be.

No environmental observation is worth risking your safety.

Mapping Environmental Change

One of the greatest benefits of structured citizen-science recording is what becomes possible over time.

Because Epicollect5 observations can include geographic coordinates, reports can contribute to a map of environmental change.

Individual incidents may appear isolated.

Collectively they may reveal patterns.

Repeated reports could identify areas experiencing hedgerow loss, pressure on river corridors, damage to wet grassland, fragmentation of wildlife habitat or other changes that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

This allows us to move from asking:

"What happened here?"

towards the much larger question:

"What is happening to the ecological health of Cwmaman?"

Recording Recovery as Well as Loss

Environmental monitoring should not become simply a catalogue of destruction.

Nature's recovery matters too.

The restoration of a hedgerow, regeneration of woodland, return of wildflowers, improvement of a riverbank or reappearance of a species can all be worth recording.

Over time we can begin to document not only where nature is being lost, but also where nature is recovering and flourishing.

That is particularly important within Rights of Nature.

The objective is not simply to prevent destruction.

It is to enable ecosystems to exist, regenerate, recover and flourish.

Citizen Science and Rights of Nature

The combination of Nature Guardians, Epicollect5 and EcoWatch Monitor provides a practical expression of the principles contained within the Cwmaman Rights of Nature Charter.

A Charter can recognise the interests of nature.

Nature Guardians can watch over particular places.

Epicollect5 can record what they observe.

EcoWatch Monitor can help ensure that new reports are noticed.

Together they create a community-based system of environmental guardianship:

SEE IT

RECORD IT

MONITOR IT

PROTECT IT

Rights of Nature begins with recognising that nature deserves a voice.

Reporting Habitat Loss provides one way of making sure that voice can be heard.