Each of the organisations we are working with possesses expertise that will prove essential to the success of Space4Nature. 

Professor Richard Murphy and postdoctoral researcher Dr Ana Andries of the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey are experts in employing space-based technology and data analysis to suggest solutions for long-term environmental and social issues. They will take the lead in combining very high-resolution images from space satellites and drones and combine these with ‘ground level’ data provided by the other partners and citizen science volunteers through artificial intelligence (AI) technology, to produce detailed habitat maps. The project will also be supporting PhD paleoecological research that will give insight into historical habitat coverage across Surrey and how this may influence the baselines we use for nature recovery. Overall, this research-based approach will inform where we need to focus efforts in terms of potential changes to land management practices.

Buglife, a charity dedicated to conservation, education and policy change to protect insects, is already leading the way in connecting pollinator habitats through the creation of ‘B-Lines’, a series of new and restored two-mile wide ‘insect pathways’ linking wildflower-rich sites together, creating a network that will weave across the British landscape.  The B-Line map of Surrey covers some 100 miles and Space4Nature aims to carry out at least 30 hectares of additional habitat restoration as part of this B-lines network. It’s worth visiting the Buglife website to view a national map of B-Lines, showing how each county’s B-line links with its neighbouring counties. The Buglife team will also be instrumental in supporting the citizen science aspect of the project, ensuring that insect populations are monitored, recorded, and protected correctly.  

Painshill Park in Cobham is a 154-acre 18^th Century landscape garden boasting a wide variety of habitats including parkland, woods, lakes, and grasslands. With over 250,000 visitors each year, the use of Earth Observation technology pioneered by Space4Nature will be hugely beneficial in informing the future management of the park as it seeks to reduce pressure on its natural biodiversity and to work with neighbouring landowners to maximise its contribution to biodiversity on a wider scale.  As one of the first sites that the project will focus on, Painshill will be an important test site and ambassador for Space4Nature as the project expands its reach across the county.  With over 10,000 children annually visiting the gardens to take part in nature activities, Painshill Park Trust is also the perfect partner to lead on engaging a new generation with conservation, recruiting volunteers and informing the wider community about Space4Nature.  Find out more on their website.

Satellite imagery is  commonly used in conservation, particularly in rainforest environments as well as in monitoring trends and major changes in land, oceans and atmosphere,. But thanks to the rapid evolution of technology, enabling us to zoom in to under half a metre while still maintaining a ‘big picture’, and the ability of artificial intelligence to fill in any gaps by predicting which habitats and species are likely to be present in areas where the picture is unclear, we are now able to operate in a new and more ambitious way. In short, we can create an accurate county-wide picture, accompanied by a county-wide conservation plan covering an extremely diverse range of habitats. 

Space4Nature will focus on every kind of habitat in Surrey, from wetlands to woodland, to hedges and heathland.  To give an example, even small and partially obscured clearings in woodland – which are important habitat for green hairstreak butterflies and the plant life on which they depend – could be mapped and analysed to enable us to assess what further woodland management could be carried out to support and grow populations. Hedgerows support hundreds of species, including declining flagship birds and mammals such as yellowhammers, dormice and hedgehogs. Our vision is a network of varied and biodiverse habitats that support every native Surrey species and an abundance of wildlife more effectively than the current patchwork of wild areas ever could.

Farmers and landowners obviously play a crucial role in our efforts to recover nature. Integrating habitat creation and restoration with food production and other land uses needs careful planning and this is where we see Space4Nature playing a role.  For example, it will help us understand where minor improvements can play a role as part of a bigger picture such as a line of restored hedging that could give dormice access to safety, feeding and breeding opportunities as part of several miles of connected hedgerows.  Adjusting the mowing regime on some field margins could help a farmer complete B-lines that cross many properties, ensuring crops are pollinated for miles around.  Our intention is also that Space4Nature will support the targeted use of emerging funding streams including Sustainable Farming Incentive and Local Nature Recovery grants which will help farmers improve their land for nature. 

Since the announcement of the funding award from the People’s Postcode Lottery this summer, we’ve been working with our partners to nominate or appoint staff who will lead on various aspects of the work, from project management to communications to data processing – and to communicate the aims and structure of the project to our partners and supporters in Surrey and more widely.  We’ll soon be moving into the delivery phase with the selection of up to six major test sites for satellite and AI mapping to be announced this autumn, the recruitment and deployment of volunteers, outreach and advice to landowners and the identification of further sites due to start in early 2023.  You can keep abreast of developments on the project page.