I’ve had the following communication which I received a few days ago from Anita Daimond at Plantlife re waxcaps. Apologies for not posting it sooner, but I missed that there seems to be quite a tight deadline on returning it. So can anyone reading this please respond asap. 

Thanks Julian.

Please take 5 minutes to help us design this project, your opinion will be gratefully received.Waxcap fungi and their grassland habitats are under threat from agricultural improvements and development projects. These important and fascinating fungi do not survive the application of fertilizers or soil disturbance such as ploughing. This means they are only found on old grassland that has not been disturbed in this way.

(Photo thanks to Andrew Martin)

Plantlife Cymru are developing a three year project ‘The Big Welsh Waxcap Hunt’ to get a better picture of the distribution of waxcap grasslands. This will help us to prioritise good sites for protection, discover new sites and promote good conservation management of locally good and nationally important waxcap grasslands. Wales is important internationally for waxcap fungi due to its favourable climate, steep terrain that has prevented ploughing and use of traditional farming methods based on grazing. However, despite surveys undertaken by fungi specialists (mycologist) we still have many gaps in our knowledge of waxcap grassland distribution. This is partly due to the low number of people able to identify waxcap fungi but also the fact that the mushroom part of the fungi is only visible above ground for short amounts of time in the Autumn. Through this project we aim to get as many people as possible involved so we can have lots of eyes spotting and recording waxcap fungi throughout the autumn season.

We are particularly keen to engage with landowners and land managers that have areas of grassland that maybe suitable for waxcap fungi and to help them protect this valuable ecological resource. Please help us to work out how best to support you as landowners and land-managers to do this by completing this questionnaire by Thursday March 16^th 2017.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KB7TSW2  

We will use your answers to inform how we develop the waxcap fungi resources and training for land managers and landowners. We have secured initial funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to develop our project ideas and will be submitting follow-on applications to HLF and other funders during the summer of 2017. The project delivery will commence in 2018. Please refer to the attached project aims and themes. (Photo thanks to Andrew Martin)

Thank you for your time and interest.

Anita Daimond

Swyddog Ffwng Glaswelltir / Waxcap Officer

Plantlife Cymru

Ffôn Symudol / Mobile 07496 697236

Ebost / Email anita.daimond@plantlife.org.uk

Twitter – @PlantlifeCymru

Facebook – www.facebook.com/Plantlife-Cymru

Thanks for reading.