Juliet Hynes to lead on evidence-based Gloucestershire Nature Recovery Network

Juliet Hynes has recently joined Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) and will be leading the development, delivery and monitoring of an evidence-based Gloucestershire Nature Recovery Network (NRN) as set out in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (25 YEP) “to complement and connect our best wildlife sites, and provide opportunities for species conservation and the reintroduction of native species” and being driven forward with partners by the Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership (GLNP).

Juliet Hynes joins Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust to support the Local Nature Partnership in delivering the County's Nature Recovery Network

Juliet will be a great asset in supporting the GLNP and GWT to deliver its aspirations for our local NRN, creating a spatial GIS-based master plan for nature restoration covering the entire county. This map will complement the ecosystem and natural capital mapping being undertaken by the GLNP, with the Environment Agency as lead partners. An initial pilot for this work will focus on Gloucester.

Juliet will also take over responsibility for the local wildlife sites (LWS) system in Gloucestershire (also known as Key Wildlife Sites). LWS designations are important for protecting our special areas in the planning system or securing enhancements or management where the land isn't currently designated via other means. In Gloucestershire, there are approximately 850 Key Wildlife Sites which contribute to GWT's vision for a Living Landscape, yet these will also be integrated into the NRN, helping inform how best to manage these sites given the surrounding habitats and opportunities to enhance connectivity.

There are four main aspects to the LWS work to be tackled by Juliet over the next year:

1. Migrating from a Microsoft Access database to a spatial database.

2. Tackling the issue of GDPR

3. Site selection panel review

4. Survey and monitoring review, training and implementation.

Migrating to a spatial database will make the data much more readily usable for mapping the NRN, while the selection panel and survey & monitoring review will look to ensure selection is still robust and streamline the processes for efficient and effective management by Juliet.

Find out more about the work Juliet will lead on the Nature Recovery Network by clicking here.