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Specimens may only be taken from reserves
for scientific purposes benefiting nature conservation. In each case a
permit must be obtained and the Trust's policy on collecting must be followed.
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Few naturalists like to kill other
organisms. But sometimes specimens of animals or plants have to be collected
and preserved to obtain verifiable identifications - a requirement for
sound reserves management. The Trust encourages such collecting on its
reserves and has a policy to ensure that it is conducted with restraint,
and only for sound scientific reasons.
Reserves are among the Trust's most
valuable assets. They are oases of species richness in a wider environment
that is steadily losing biodiversity. To manage reserves effectively
- which entails trying to maintain and increase their biodiversity -
we must know which species they contain. Without reliable species lists,
conservationists cannot detect trends in the decline of endangered animals
and plants; nor can they recognise with confidence the impacts responsible.
The credibility of the Trust when applying for resources to acquire
or manage a reserve often depends on the quality of its species inventories.
This fact was central to the formation
of the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
(ERCCIS), and its predecessor - the Cornish Biological Records Unit.
ERCCIS continually receives, stores, analyses and interprets records
of all wild organisms in Cornwall. It has mechanisms to ensure that
species identifications are correct according to present knowledge and
that such identifications can be re-evaluated in future.
Recorders of birds and mammals are
fortunate because acceptable (though not necessarily verifiable) species
identifications can usually be made without collecting a specimen. But
recorders of other kinds of organism, including many insects and simpler
plants, often need to collect "voucher" specimens - for examination
in the hand, or for preservation and future study. Many smaller insects
cannot be identified without examining preserved specimens under a microscope.
Because all organisms, whether conspicuous to the human eye or not,
play vital roles in ecosystems that conservationists wish to preserve,
some biological recorders
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routinely need voucher specimens. This
is why, like many other Trusts, the Cornwall Wildlife Trust encourages
collecting on its reserves. At the same time, because collecting, if practised
without due care and respect, can have unwanted consequences, the Trust
has a policy that applies to it.
The policy, approved recently by Council,
enables the Trust to reconcile the need for voucher specimens of plants,
animals and certain kinds of non-living material with the need for habitat
and species conservation. The policy provides guidelines that enable officers
or Trustees to grant or withhold permission to individuals wishing to
collect on reserves; and it is consistent with policies on the same subject
produced by other nature conservation bodies in the UK.
Anyone wishing to collect on a Trust
reserve is obliged to apply for a permit. When doing so, the applicant
must state what will be collected and for what scientific purpose, how
the specimens will be preserved and where they will be deposited, and
how the results will benefit nature conservation. Information must also
be provided regarding the anticipated end result and dates when the Trust
can expect to receive written progress reports. Permits are normally issued
only to individuals, and all who apply must confirm that they have read
the Trust policy on collecting and agree to abide by its provisions, and
that they undertake to provide ERCCIS with any records collected under
the terms of the permit. Permit holders are required to carry the permit
when collecting on a reserve. The permit authorises the holder to collect
on the reserve specified and asks visitors not to prevent the permit holder
from carrying out the authorised work.
Philip Corbet
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