Caring for Wildlife in Communities (CWICNET)

Make a map

These steps outline our ideas for how a parish map could be produced, but this is just one option, how you do it will depend on the expertise available in your group.

1. Map the existing known green spaces in your neighbourhood.
2. Add local knowledge to the map through local species recording groups and organised surveys.
3. Identify clusters of habitats and sites which form core areas 
4. Identify where links can be formed between core areas.. For example a river or stream makes a logical corridor between blocks of wetland habitat, or a line of street trees could be extended to link areas of woodland. Other types of corridors could include: areas of scrub, ditches, wildflower margins and unmown grass strips. It is also important to note areas that are a block in the network such as areas of intensive agriculture or existing or proposed developments.
5. The links between blocks of habitat within core areas and between core areas may be direct physical links (corridors) but might also be stepping stone blocks of habitat. Many species are able to cross gaps between blocks of suitable habitat, but their ability to do so depends on the distance involved, the type of land-use between the habitat blocks and the characteristics of the species concerned. For example, a relatively immobile woodland species might require a direct physical link between two woodlands, but a mobile grassland species might be able to cross a few hundred metres of unsuitable habitat between grassland blocks. In this case, closely spaced stepping stone habitats would serve to link more widely spaced habitat blocks.