Two organisations based in the northern English borough have launched a major conservation project.
A partnership between agri-tech firm AgriSound and Escrick Park Estate will use bioacoustics to collect real-time pollinator data from farmland, woodland and Skipwith ecological corridor to measure biodiversity and habitat state.
Nine Polly acoustic devices, developed by AgriSound, will be installed across the 7,000 acre country park and house. Results will then be used to inform ongoing habitats restoration and expansion efforts, which form part of Biodiversity Net Gain work. This will be focused on the Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve and surrounding wildlife areas.
‘We’re proud to be working with Escrick Park Estate to showcase how Yorkshire-made innovation can make a global impact,’ said Jake Woodward, business development lead at AgriSound. ‘Our technology helps land managers worldwide turn pollinator’s sound data into smart, sustainable decisions that strengthen the biodiversity across their sites to help conservation efforts and improve yields.’
‘We’re passionate about using data to guide our conservation work, especially to boost the sustainability of our long-term land management practices,’ added Mark Hewitt, conservation lead at Escrick Park Estate. ‘Partnering with AgriSound allows us to better understand the health of pollinators across the Estate and take targeted action to protect them.
This year, 35% of all natural pollinators worldwide featured on risk of extinction lists, posing serious threats to the environment and agriculture. Since scientists began sounding alarms over a significant decline in the population sizes of critical species, governments across the globe have begun to take biodiversity and habitat protection more seriously.
Image: AgriSound / Escrick Park Estate
More Biodiversity, Climate Change, Nature & Sustainability:
What’s in Downing Street’s new Environment Improvement Plan?
Why London, Manchester, Calderdale, Dorset, Herts leaders backed Devolution nature amendments
Britain hosts first conference on BNG and Nationally Significant Infrastructure