A surprising number of wildlife species were recorded during the Ilfracombe BioBlitz in June. The North Devon Coast National Landscape’s Finding Nature’s Footprints team ran a BioBlitz and Festival of Nature across the town. The weekend long event saw 280 members of the public find and record over 300 different species.
As part of the BioBlitz a whole host of public events were organised including rock pooling, minibeast hunting, freshwater invertebrate sampling, moth trapping and bat detecting. Locations included Hillsborough, Cairn Nature Reserve, Cow Green Community Garden, Holy Trinity Church, Larkstone, the Torrs, Hele Bay, Capstone and Bicclescombe Park.
At the BioBlitz hub, several organisations including Devon Wildlife Trust, National Trust, Coastwise North Devon, Friends of Hillsborough, Braunton Countryside Centre, and British Divers Marine Life Rescue were on hand with activities and to talk about the work they do. This gave the public a fantastic opportunity to chat with the groups all in one place whilst also acting as a networking opportunity for the organisations themselves. In addition to these groups there was also work from local artist on display and ancient fossils for the public to see.
Evie Giblett, Finding Nature’s Footprints Project Assistant said:
“It was fantastic to see the people of Ilfracombe getting out and involved with their local wildlife. Seeing everyone roaming around Hillsborough in search of wonderful creatures hiding in the grasses and searching under the quay to find anemones and sea slugs was so encouraging! The benefits of being outdoors in nature and being mindful of what is around you are unmatched not to mention the benefits for the wildlife! Recording the local wildlife can help us to monitor the health of our habitats and build upon local nature recovery plans. We can see changes in populations over time and how our actions are hindering or helping the wildlife around us. Understanding what is happening in the environment is the most effective way to see how we can work to help nature recover.
If you want to get involved there are various volunteer action groups around Ilfracombe including the Friends of Hillsborough, the Earth Repair Shop, Cairn Conservation Carers and the U3A, or just hop onto the iNaturalist app and start to record the wildlife at your feet! Every record counts. If you want to find out more get in touch”
The Finding Nature’s Footprints Project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and next year there will be another opportunity to get involved in a BioBlitz around the North Devon Coast. Although the location is still to be confirmed it will offer people the opportunity to get involved in nature recording no matter what their experience or knowledge. There are also lots of other upcoming Finding Nature’s Footprints events throughout our beautiful North Devon coast, please visit the North Devon Coast National Landscape website www.northdevoncoast-nl.org.uk/events as well as their Facebook and Instagram pages (@northdevoncoastnl) to find out more.
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