WESEM biodiversity for Landowners
This toolkit offers practical methods and suggested tools to help you, as a landowner, monitor the biodiversity on your property. By tracking these key indicators, you can contribute to broader restoration goals and better understand the health of your forest ecosystem, aligning with the principles of the Nature Restoration Law.
Using This Toolkit:
This toolkit provides a simplified approach for landowners to monitor biodiversity, referencing indicators from the Nature Restoration Law
Important Note
The methodologies described here are simplifications of the detailed requirements outlined in the Nature Restoration Law, which are primarily aimed at national-level monitoring and reporting. Landowners contributing data through these methods are encouraged to seek guidance from local forestry or environmental experts to ensure accuracy and relevance to regional monitoring programs. Tool availability and effectiveness may vary by location.
Biodiversity Indicators & Your Monitoring Actions
Here are the key forest biodiversity indicators and how you can practically monitor them on your land:
Why it matters: Butterflies are good indicators of environmental health. This index brings together species that are characteristic of European grasslands. Monitoring the abundance of these butterflies gives us information about the biodiversity and overall health of the grasslands. A healthy butterfly population indicates a healthy ecosystem.
Your Action:
- Define an observation area: Choose a specific grassland area on your agricultural land to monitor regularly.
- Identify species: Walk calmly along a fixed route (the transect method) and count specific butterfly species. Focus on those species that are characteristic of the region’s grasslands.
- Monitor abundance: Repeat the count at the same time and in similar weather conditions each year to track changes in populations.
- Record data: Write down the date, time, weather, the number of butterflies counted per species, and the location. Use the “Restoration Site Notes Sheet” or a similar log for this.
Tools to Help:
- Butterfly Field Guide: Use a book or a mobile app to identify different butterfly species.
- Notebook or App: Use a field notebook or a phone app (like Evernote, Microsoft OneNote) to record your observations.
- Binoculars: Can be helpful for observing and identifying butterflies from a distance.
Why it matters: Organic carbon is a key factor for soil health and fertility. It improves soil structure, water retention capacity, and provides food for soil organisms. Soil with a high carbon content helps to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change.
Your Action:
- Take soil samples: Choose representative sampling spots on your cultivated land.
- Collect samples from the correct depth: Take samples from the top layer of the soil, at a depth of 0–30 cm. This is the most biologically active layer.
- Analyze the samples: Send the samples to a laboratory to determine the organic carbon content, or use a simpler field test kit for a preliminary assessment.
- Estimate and compare: Calculate the carbon stock (in tonnes per hectare). Repeat the sampling and analysis every few years to monitor whether your land use practices are increasing or decreasing the soil’s carbon content.
- Record the results: Enter the results on the “Restoration Site Notes Sheet,” noting the sampling location, date, and carbon content.
Tools to Help:
- Soil Auger or Spade: For collecting soil samples from a specific depth.
- Soil Testing Kit: Provides a quick preliminary estimate of organic matter content. For more accurate results, use the services of an accredited laboratory.
- GPS or Map App: To accurately mark sampling locations so you can take new samples from the same spot in the future.
Why it matters: Landscape features like buffer strips, hedges, stone walls, ditches, ponds, and field margins provide habitats and food for many species (insects, birds, small mammals). They are nature’s “corridors” that help species spread, increase pollination and natural pest control, and protect soil and water.
Your Action:
- Walk your land: Map all existing high-diversity landscape features – hedges, rows of trees, stone walls, field margins, ponds, etc.
- Assess their condition: Make sure these areas are not used for intensive agricultural production (e.g., grazing, fodder production) or treated with fertilizers or pesticides.
- Measure the area: Estimate the total area of these features on your agricultural land. You can do this by pacing or by using a map application.
- Calculate the share: Divide the area of the landscape features by the total area of your agricultural land in use and multiply by one hundred to get the percentage.
- Document your plans: Record the map and calculations on the “Restoration Site Notes Sheet.” Set a goal to maintain and increase the share and quality of these areas.
Tools to Help:
- Measuring Tape or Laser Distance Meter: For measuring the length of hedges and the width of areas.
- Map App (e.g., Google Maps, national land survey app): For measuring and mapping the area of your land and its landscape features.
- Notebook and Pen/Phone: To write down observations and measurement results directly in the field.
By using this toolkit and regularly monitoring these indicators, you can play an active role in understanding and improving the biodiversity of your forest, contributing to a healthier environment for everyone.
You can also add data on your restoration site notes sheet, to help you track changes over time.