• Terms and Conditions / Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
Transforming the Trent Valley
Transforming the Trent Valley
  • Home
  • Projects
    • Projects: Transforming the Trent Valley

      1. Connecting Communities through Action

      • CCA01Community Engagement
      • CCA02WildChild
      • CCA03Big Washlands Watch
      • CCA04Transforming Lives
      • CCA05Connecting with Nature
      • CCA06Tales from the River Bank

      2. River Valley Connections

      • RVC01Trent Valley Way
      • RVC02Canal Access
      • RVC03Canoe Discovery
      • RVC04Gateway to the Trent Valley
      • RVC05Waymarking of Cycle Routes
      • TTTV2Interpretation Programme

      3. Transforming the Landscape

      • TL01Living Floodplains
      • TL02Rolleston Brook Hollows
      • TL03Trans. the Trent Valley’s Heritage
      • TL04Stop! The Military Heritage of the...
  • Take Part
    • Take Part: Transforming the Trent Valley

      Support Our Projects

      • Tales From The Riverbank: Childhood memories oral history NEW

      Events and Activities

      • Events
      • Courses and Learning

      Community and Volunteering

      • Community Action
      • Community Grants Scheme
      • Community Grants Updates
      • Volunteer
  • Discover
    • Discover: Transforming the Trent Valley

      Features

      • Rugeley Power Station: A New Riverside Park NEW
      • Burton Washlands: A Landscape Vision NEW
      • One Foot Forward: Walking and Wellbeing NEW
      • Cherry Holme: A natural river island restored for wildlife

      Discover

      • Trent Talks Webinar Archive
      • Photo Gallery
      • Trent Valley Hub
      • Poems

      Blogs

      • Talk of the Trent Blog
      • Learn and Discover Blog
      • Lockdown BioBlitz
  • News
    • Latest News
    • E-newsletter Signup
    • Invitation to Tender
    • Press Clippings
  • Resources
    • Introduction (Presentation)
    • Downloads
    • Action Plans, Audits and Assessments
  • About
    • Scheme Partners
    • Project Staff
    • Project Leads
    • Scheme Area Map
    • Scheme Timeline
  • Contact Us
  • Muddy Child

    Muddy Child
    © 2020 Helena Dolby (Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust/WildNet)

  • Birdwatching

    Birdwatching
    © 2020 Guy Edwardes/2020VISION (WildNet)

  • Connecting with Nature

    Connecting with Nature
    © 2020 Adrian Clarke (Staffordshire Wildlife Trust/Adrian Clarke/WildNet)

  • Wildlife Surveys

    Wildlife Surveys
    © 2020 Matthew Roberts (WildNet)

1. Connecting Communities
through Action

CCA03 Big Washlands Watch

Challenging schools, families and individuals to identify species in our landscape.

Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund



Prev Projects Next

Project Summary

This project encompasses a range of events and activities to engage a broad-range of people to provide them with support and resources to be able to identify and record species.

  • Citizen Science recording: we are working with the Field Studies Council to produce a bespoke self-guided identification pack featuring a number of species found within the Trent Valley. It can be used by families, schools and community groups who can then share their findings with us.
  • Specialist group recording: we are engaging with specialist groups such as West Midlands Ringing Group to deliver training and information talks, as well as give us species level data which can be submitted to Staffordshire Ecological Records (SER) and Derbyshire Biological Records Centre (DBRC) to increase the quality and quantity of biological records in the Trent Valley.
  • Bioblitz events: public events are held across the year at key sites providing an opportunity for the surrounding communities to have access to a range of subject area specialists such as mammal group, butterfly group etc. We are running training events to increase identification skills for volunteers and the public.

Project Legacy (click to view)

  • Families engaged will have a greater knowledge of habitats and ecology. They will have learnt about species present in the landscape, how to identify them, record them and provide data to the biological recording centres to assist with mapping and planning requests in future. Understanding how different species fit together in a complex ecosystem will make sure that they know how disruptive human’s influence can be – e.g. pollution incidents and how it can have far reaching effects on a healthy ecosystem.
  • We will leave behind a network of experienced recorders with wide knowledge of sites and species within the Trent Valley, with good contact links and networks between specialist groups and the ecological records centres.

Project Lead

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (Scheme Lead Partner)
Support Staffordshire

Nicola Lynes
Community Engagement Officer
Support Staffordshire

Transforming the Trent Valley

Big Washlands Watch Blog Posts

© 2021 Copyright Owner

Support Plastic Free July with Sisters Against Plastic.

7th July 2020 by Sisters Against Plastic

In 2018, my sister and I made a resolution to reduce our plastic use. To achieve that goal we made a year-long plan that worked really well for us. It worked so well in fact that I reduced my plastic use by 91% and Mary managed to reduce hers by 73%!

Here's how we did it...

Read More
© 2021 Copyright Owner

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch.

27th January 2020 by Nicola Lynes

You might have seen that one of the projects running within the Transforming the Trent Valley scheme is the 'Big Washlands Watch', which is all about citizen science - engaging people with their local wildlife and teaching them how to identify species and submit biological records.

Read More
© 2021 Copyright Owner

Call for Citizen Scientists.

6th January 2020 by Nicola Lynes

Transforming the Trent Valley scheme is launching our 'Big Washlands Watch' project in 2020. This project aims to learn more about the number and types of species living in the Trent Valley area by encouraging local people to get involved in some citizen science activities. We would like to hear from people and groups within the Transforming the Trent Valley scheme area who want to learn more about the wildlife on their doorstep and would like to help us to record it.

Read More

Get all the latest news from
Transforming the Trent Valley

Sign up to our free e-newsletter by entering your email in the field below.
You can unsubscribe at any time and we promise not share your details with anyone else.

Our scheme partners helping to Transform the Trent Valley

Aggregate Industries
British Canoeing
Canal & River Trust
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
East Staffordshire Borough Council
Environment Agency
GeoConservation Staffordshire
Hanson UK
Lichfield District Council
National Forest Company
RSPB
Staffordshire County Council
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (Scheme Lead Partner)
Support Staffordshire
Tamworth Borough Council
Tarmac Aggregates Ltd
Together Active Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent
Trent Rivers Trust

Discover More

  • Projects
  • News
  • Resources

Get Involved

  • Events
  • Volunteer
  • Community Grants

Who's Involved

  • Scheme Partners
  • Project Staff
  • Project Leads

Supported by

Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Transforming the Trent Valley

© 2019 - 2021 Transforming the Trent Valley. All Rights Reserved.
Transforming the Trent Valley, 19 Lower Brook Street, Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 2BZ

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust - Registered Charity No. 259558. Limited Company No. 959609.
Registered Office: The Wolseley Centre, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST17 0WT