Annual Review 2012 Contents Highlights of 2012 Page 1 Message from the President 2 BSBI Plant Unit 3 Training and Education 4 Encouraging an Interest in Plants 4-6 Publicity and Outreach 7 Botanical Publications and BSBI Online 7-8 Financial Report 8-10 Thank You 11 Message from the President Page 2 A glance through the following pages will show the Society has enjoyed anoth- membership grew during er busy and successful year. the year - we are optimistic that the 3,000 barrier will A lot of hard work has gone into promoting the BSBI to a wider audience. We be broken next year. had a presence at several local and national events, including Big Nature Day in London, Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham, the Birdfair at Rutland Water In addition to the usual full and the major conference we organised jointly with the Royal Botanic Garden, programme of events for Edinburgh. This conference, celebrating biological recording over the 50 years 2013, we are launching a since the BSBI published the first Atlas of the British Flora, was a rousing suc- new Plant Identification cess. Many of the 25 presentations will be more widely available as papers in the course for beginners. We New Journal of Botany. anticipate the launch of the Botanical Society of Britain Despite the disappointing summer weather, over 50 field meetings were held and Ireland at our June throughout the year with good coverage across Britain and Ireland and catering AGM in Beaumaris, and for a wide range of botanical skills. we will announce the In May, the Annual General Meeting in Reading approved that the Society appointment of a Head of Operations - a new post to work alongside volunteers should be reconstituted as a Company Limited by Guarantee. This was and paid staff, taking responsibility for the administrative operation of the endorsed at the Special General Meeting held in Cambridge in November, as Society as a whole. part of the Annual Exhibition Meeting. Also, it was resolved that in future the Our success through 2012 is entirely due to the continued efforts of our small BSBI would be known as the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Details team of staff and the greater number of members who volunteer in so many dif- of the reconstitution are still being worked through, but should be completed by ferent ways – honorary officers, vice-county recorders, referees, committee the AGM in June 2013. members, field excursion leaders, helpers and indoor event organisers. Thank We have continued to enjoy financial support through our partnership arrange- you all. ments with the Country Agencies. This, coupled with the wise management of our legacy income, has allowed us to continue to expand our small staff team with the appointment of a part-time Officer for Ireland. Ian Bonner It is gratifying to report that, notwithstanding economic uncertainties, our March 2012 BSBI Plant Unit Page 3 Plant Unit populations of 50 species chosen because their recent declines had been severe and often for reasons that are not understood. In 2012 we also began work on a The Plant Unit is the professional arm of the BSBI, with a remit to develop sci- new Red Data list for England, funded by Natural England.This follows the GB entific uses of the BSBI’s data and provide services to academia and the conser- red list published in 2005 and one for Wales published in 2008 and will hope- vation sector and members of the Society itself. fully highlight the plight of species such as Surveillance and Ash die-back Antennaria dioica that are not considered to be threatened at a national level but which have BSBI is currently at the forefront of developing ways to monitor the impacts of undergone serious declines in England, espe- this disease, the effects of which could be on a par with those of Dutch Elm dis- cially in the intensively managed lowlands of ease in the 1970s. We are working closely with bryologists and lichenologists to the south and east. develop a scheme that will attempt to measure Extending our reach long term impacts on The Plant Unit team now comprises three both ground flora and national officers covering Scotland, Wales and epiphytes. This ties in most recently Ireland, following the appoint- very closely with our ment of Dr Maria Long who started working new ‘habitat-based’ sur- for us in the autumn.This is a very significant veillance scheme which event for the BSBI, and we hope it provides we hope to launch over our Irish counterparts with some much need- the next few years. For a ed support and guidance as we head rapidly towards the end of the decade and whole range of habitats the publication of the third national atlas of the British and Irish flora. this will enable us to provide confident Making our data available answers to such simple Possibly the most significant development over recent years has been the launch questions as which species are declining or increasing in abundance and why. of the Society’s own Distribution Database (DDb). This provides registered Ash dieback is just another potential ‘driver’ to add to an ever increasing list that users with online access to the largest collation of botanical records ever assem- already includes habitat loss, lack of management, eutrophication, pollution, cli- bled and in 2012 many recorders as well as research scientists and conservation mate change and invasive species (native or otherwise). partners signed up to use it. It is already proving an invaluable resource and is Monitoring our threatened flora being improved all the time, mainly through exposure to users who can edit records and provide feedback on its content and functionality. This was the last year (2012) of our flagship Threatened Plants Project (TPP) in which volunteers have been collecting vital information on some of our most threatened species. Over the last five years volunteers have visited thousands of Training and Education and Encouraging an Interest in Plants Page 4 Training and Education events were held in Wiltshire, Northumberland and Bridgwater Bay in Somerset, and eight general meetings ranging from Cornwall to Yorkshire. New members and beginners were specifically welcomed and invited to join four of these meet- The training and education activities of the BSBI are still supported by the gen- ings. erous legacy of Allan Hamerschlag. The work of the committee and other vol- unteers enables the BSBI to continue spreading awareness and knowledge of It is true that botanists get to some unusual corners overlooked or ignored by plants and habitats by supporting botanical training and improvement of iden- others while some encounter unusual events. Travel between two Cornish sites tification skills. Working with Meetings Committee, an ever-increasing number in mid-May was delayed by the Olympic torch cortege and botanists were of field meetings are designated as training events, encouraging beginners and delighted to drive into Truro to find enthusiastic crowds apparently waiting to improvers by advertising the presence of a tutor to help with basic and some- salute them! Visits to plant-rich sites included: part of the floodplain meadows times more advanced identification skills. in Leicestershire nestling in a suburban area of the county; starting an outing on the former rubbish tip in Essex; standing on a former mineral extraction site in In 2012, 39 botanists took the BSBI’s Field Identification Skills Certificate test. Yorkshire; and visiting an unexplored corner of Lincolnshire, Grimsthorpe Park, Almost 200 botanists have now been awarded a certificate, helping to ensure a near Bourne. Here, the objective was to explore areas of limestone grassland continuing supply of competent botanical field workers into the future. This within the Park including the disused quarries and pits and the outing turned up award is increasingly recognised by employers, especially consultancies who also two new records for the area. Owing to over-subscription last year Mike Porter use this as a method of professional progression and reward. ran another of his sedges workshops. Similarly in a little-worked corner of the Thirty six training grants and bursaries were awarded as well as two study grants New Forest those present were not only able to contribute current records but of £1,000 each to a PhD student at Edge Hill University for research into Tilia also heard about the area’s history from local commoners. The year culminat- cordata, and also to a Masters student at University of Birmingham for research ed in a trip to Rutland Water also known for its birds. into the use of axiophytes in conservation planning. Our field meetings continued to facilitate exploration of all corners of England Perhaps one of the most exciting initiatives in 2012 was the development of a in the very capable hands of the leaders for whom we are most grateful for their BSBI online plant identification course designed by committee member Brenda expertise, enthusiasm and time. Harold. This is due for launch in 2013 in partnership with the Field Studies Wales Council. The BSBI in Wales continues to Encouraging an Interest in Plants benefit from the input and expert- ise of a Welsh Officer (funded main- ly by Countryside Council for England Wales) Dr Polly Spencer-Vellacott. Despite the weather all the field meetings took place and were held safely. Polly has taken maternity leave (her Twenty field meetings were held in total, including nine training sessions, one of baby son, Jay was born on 6th which introduced coastal dune plants, sedges and grasses. Three recording November 2012) and during her absence, Polly’s place is taken by Encouraging an Interest in Plants Page 5 Paul Green who has settled in well and was able to take up the offer of office Registers in those vice-counties without one.