During Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEAs), National Vegetation Classification (NVC) surveys and Habitat Classification (UKHab) surveys we identify the plant species and diversity present to determine the baseline ecological value of sites. This is all the more necessary now that statutory biodiversity metrics are required for most planning applications.

We recognise the importance of having skilled botanists in order to complete these surveys therefore we’ve been investing time and money in ensuring our team members have appropriate plant ID training.

 As part of this, in June 2024 we conducted an assessment day to test the competencies of each team member. This was based on the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) Field Identification Skills Certificate (FISC) assessment criteria which is a formal assessment for which certificates of competency are provided.

 The assessment includes three parts:

Test 1) 10 plants to be identified without any books

Test 2) 20 plants collected from all over the country to be identified with any resources except electronic devices

Test 3) A field test to identify as many plants as possible within two hours.

 Tests 1 and 2 have a time limit of 1.5 hours between them, and it is extremely difficult identifying plants out of context of the habitat or geography they’re in!

 For the field test we went to the fabulous Radley Lakes near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, managed by the Earth Trust and Radley Lakes Trust. Within 0.8ha of habitat in the north-east of the lakes we found a peak count of 133 plants by a single surveyor in two hours and 191 species overall, doing a detailed Biodiversity Blitz afterwards.

 The FISC assessment levels include:

 Level 1 – Basic: Can recognise a buttercup Daisy or planting. No grass is sedges or ferns

Level 2 - Some ID skills: Can ID common flowering species for example but not capable of producing a comprehensive site list, with no grasses, sedges or ferns but some rushes.

Level 3 - Reasonable ID skills: Some flowering plants, some common grasses, sedges or ferns; an improver.

Level 4 - Good ID skills in one group: Could be commissioned to survey a site for vascular plants but may miss subspecies and hybrids; reasonable on grasses sedges and ferns.

Level 5 - Very good ID skills: More or less totally reliable for a full site survey of vascular plants and would expect to identify any rare species or hybrids. This is considered to be the standard required for professional National Vegetation Classification (NVC) Surveys.

Level 6 - Excellent ID skills: Awarded in exceptional circumstances. 

Level 7 - Outstanding.

 The Outcome

We were delighted to discover that:

·       5 team members achieved Level 5 in one or more of the tests;

·       10 team members achieved Level 4 in one or more of the tests; and

·       15 team members achieved Level 3 in one or more of the tests.

 We’re keen to recruit more botanists so if you’re an experienced ecologist or someone with ‘reasonable’ or above ID skills looking to make a career change we’d love to hear from you! Please get in touch at hello@ecologybydesign.co.uk

July 2024