Hidden Hedgerows

Managing data and mapping hedges in the Rusland valley to inform hedgerow conservation and management decisions.

Clients: Cumbria Wildlife Trust on behalf of Rusland Horizons
Date: 2018
Services: Database Creation, Data Input, Data Management

The Hidden Hedgerows project is focused on surveying, conserving, restoring, and planting hedgerows within the Rusland Valley area. Hedgerows are extremely important for wildlife in the UK; they act as animal highways, allowing them to move safely from habitat to habitat, and through otherwise inhospitable landscapes.

Rusland Horizons and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust asked CBDC to design and build a database to store survey data from the Hidden Hedgerows project. In addition to creating this database, CBDC also provided data analysis, and contributed to the production of an overall hedgerow report for the project. To help Rusland Horizons and volunteer recorders move forward with the project, we produced digital GIS maps of the data gathered, which included maps of surveyed and non-surveyed hedges.

This was the first time hedges have been surveyed in the area and provided a valuable opportunity to gain baseline information and a clear indication of the issues affecting Rusland hedgerows. With the indispensable contribution of volunteers and apprentices, the project restored several hedges within the area by carrying out traditional laying techniques. New hedgerows were also planted at several locations around the scheme area which will contribute considerably to the area’s landscape in years to come.

– Download Rusland Hedges map (PDF)

– Visit Rusland Hidden Hedgerows Interactive Map

Links and Credits:

Hidden Hedgerows on Rusland Horizons’ Website
Rusland Horizons’ Hidden Hedgerows Leaflet
– All images sourced from Rusland Horizons

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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle keeps wildlife information for the county of Cumbria. Tullie House Museum, in its role as a local natural history museum, has collected and disseminated records of wildlife in Cumbria since its inception in 1893. From the early 1990s the Museum has developed a computerised database of species and habitat records in Cumbria and has taken the central role in providing a local biodiversity data service for the county. This role was restyled as Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre (CBDC) in 2010, a not-for-profit organisation hosted by Tullie House Museum and advised by local stakeholders.
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