More than a decade in the making, the Surrey Rare Plant Register provides a 21st century guide to the conservation status and recorded distribution of 413 rare and threatened plant species. It will be an indispensable tool for amateur botanists and ecological consultants as well as conservationists, land managers, planning consultants and developers.
This book is the first published work on the flora of the vice-county of Surrey for over 35 years. It includes many species of national importance and a Surrey responsibility, including Starfruit and Ground-pine, and plants that may be widespread elsewhere but are increasingly at risk in this county, such as Marsh Violet and Green Hellebore.
Surrey has a wide variety of soils and habitats including mature woodlands, arable and disturbed land, wetlands, dry and wet heath, and wet, neutral, calcareous and acid grassland. These support a vast diversity of flora, making Surrey a significant county for plant as well as animal life. Many of these species have suffered marked declines in recent decades due to loss of sites to pollution, disturbance and development. It is vital that habitats are safeguarded to reverse these losses and to deliver a realistic chance of meeting the legally-binding goal of protecting 30 per cent of land and sea for nature by 2030.
Surrey Biodiversity Information Centre Manager Alistair Kirk says:
“An up-to-date guide to our county’s rare plants is necessary for two vital reasons. Firstly, it enables everyone to appreciate and better understand some of the UK’s most varied and fascinating botanical life, which is also the foundation for thriving animal life. And secondly it ensures that all necessary steps can be taken to protect, and in many cases enhance and connect, the habitats that sustain Surrey’s diverse and often fragile flora. It’s particularly vital that in the rush to deliver new housing and infrastructure, all possible action is taken to ensure that the network of life that sustains us all is fully mapped and valued.”
Surrey Botanical Society Rare Plant Register editor Susan Medcalf says:
“It’s the wide variety of soils and habitats found in Surrey that makes it a county with such a wonderfully diverse flora that has attracted the attention of many able botanists over previous centuries and still does today. This publication owes a great debt to many people past and present including the fabulous recording group at Surrey Botanical Society led for the past few decades by the inspirational Ann Sankey.
“It is no mean feat to produce a book like this. Many volunteers have contributed to it along its journey. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to play their part in protecting, enjoying and treasuring Surrey’s diverse flora by improving their understanding of it and it is hoped that this book will assist with this endeavour.”
Copies of the Surrey Rare Plant Register: the rare, scarce and declining plants of Surrey are available from the SWT web shop priced £25 (exc. P&P).