Guernsey and Herm are facing a decline in wildlife species and habitats, according to the first State of Nature report by the Nature Commission.

CEO Jessi Jennings said the report provides valuable insight into the condition of the islands’ ecosystems, highlighting trends in species abundance and habitat distribution where possible.

Jennings emphasised the need for the States of Guernsey, businesses, and the public to work together to “enhance and protect” the environment.

“One of the main themes from the report is that we are very data poor.

“There is a lot of things we don’t know about our natural habitats and species.

“But what it does show is that species and habitats are declining – that is a real concern in the report.”

However, the report also revealed significant gaps in data collection.

“There is a big role the government can play, businesses can play and there’s a really big role the general public can play as well,” added Ms Jennings.

The commission aims to address these data gaps in collaboration with other environmental organisations.

Ecologist Charlotte Burgoine noted that the lack of data is particularly concerning for the marine environment, which is challenging to survey.

“Also, species groups like fungi and lichen are quite a specialist interest. They are quite hard to identify, so that is something we could do with working on,” said Ms Burgoine.

“We are going to be working on a baseline data collection programme. We are going to look at the data gaps, try and figure out how we can go about addressing those.”

She called for increased efforts to gather consistent, long-term scientific data to better monitor trends and support conservation projects.

Head of operations and education Angela Salmon announced a series of talks throughout October to raise awareness about the report and encourage people to get involved in making a difference.

She said: “It is a big report, so it is good to break that down into smaller chunks so people can understand the information.

“People can get involved and I think it is important that this report doesn’t sit on the shelf and get dusty.”

 

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