Cambridge Past, Present and Future was awarded £2,000 for its project looking at 'Ecological Monitoring for Biodiversity and Long-term Environmental Management' or EMBLEM for short.

The aim was to launch and maintain a local ecological monitoring network, to drive conservation management work, enhance biodiversity and increase ecological resilience. The ecological monitoring network is crucial in making key management decisions and enhancing the biodiversity at the Cambridge Past, Present and Future (Cambridge PPF) sites.

The project worked in partnership with local conservation organisations, funders, professionals and volunteers to increase the quality and quantity of ecological records. The project also increased awareness, experience and knowledge which can be used by professionals and citizen scientists.

The first part of the project was to conduct an ecological survey across the Cambridge PPF sites, using volunteers and conservation organisations to conduct the survey. The surveys discovered many new species and developed an understanding of the condition and potential for the sites.

Following on from the results of the ecological surveys, Cambridge PPF could focus its conservation work on a few key projects, which have already had an immediate effect on the biodiversity at the sites. Some of the projects include the orchard restoration, the makeover of a wildlife observation hide and the reseeding of their arable wildflower patch.

The EMBLEM project in 2017:

• Recorded 2,859 moths with 319 different species
• Recorded 1,544 butterflies with 25 different species
• Total species count was over 1,250
• 206km were walked for the butterfly transects
• Conservation volunteers donated over 1,000 hours of time during May-October 2017, increasing Cambridge PPF’s volunteer time by 158%