Natural Heritage Data Project

The Assynt Field Club set up a website in 2009 to provide a window to Assynt’s natural heritage and landscapes for local residents, visitors to the area and the wider scientific community.  It also encourages observations to be contributed.  From 2013-14 the website received 1,441 contributions. The previous website only allowed the display and storage of limited information from these contributions.

Through this project a modern, vibrant website has been created to replace the previous website, improving public access to large quantities of valuable natural heritage data that was previously unavailable.  By showcasing and interpreting the landscapes and natural heritage of Assynt, this website now enhances the appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of this area for all users and encourages further input of data and records from users.

The website has the capacity to collect and store more data and this new data will enhance and add to the available information, helping to build a better picture of the Assynt landscape and how it is changing. This data can then be used to input into future land management decisions.

Both residents and visitors are being encouraged to take an interest in the landscape and natural heritage through the website. Information collected through the website is now regularly communicated to the wider biological recording community, engaging the wider scientific community.

The new website can be accessed here: www.assyntwildlife.org.uk

You can download the final project report here. 

As part of the project Assynt Field Club has used the wildlife data collected to create spreadsheets and  distribution maps. The last phase of the project is to interpret some of that data, and use it to produce themed wildlife booklets to help people to identify and appreciate the wide variety of species that the data has revealed is present in the area. The first of these is a stunningly illustrated booklet on the butterflies of Assynt, which is available to download here – Butterflies of Assynt 4_for web.

Stunning images and fascinating facts in this new guide to the Butterflies of Assynt.