Novice Naturalists | RCT Action 4 Nature

Are you just starting to discover nature? There is an incredible world of discovery ahead of you and we are here to help you along the way! Below there are some suggestions for actions that you could take as a novice naturalist to learn more about the nature of RCT and start doing your part to protect and preserve our wonderful natural heritage.

Start Recording

A great first step on your nature discovery is to start recording the wildlife you see! Watch, listen, notice and you will soon be fascinated and wanting to know more. There are some brilliant apps out there to help you get started on a particular species group e.g. iRecord Ladybirds. Our local environmental records centre is SEWBReC. Their Facebook group is a great place to get expert help with identification.

Discover the special places on your doorstep

Our Living Landscapes project is a good place to start with 29 wild spaces across the County Borough that you can visit. If you discover a special place near you, tell your friends and family about it and let us know too.

Join in with national events

There are brilliant events which take place throughout the year and can help you get started. Some examples are the Big Garden Birdwatch, which takes place in January and the Big Butterfly Count in July.

Support a wildlife organisation

A number of wildlife organisations and groups are active in RCT and you can help them by becoming a member, volunteer or supporter. Take a look at the RCT Local Nature Partnership page to find out more about our members.

Improve your Skills with online learning

There are lots of free wildlife courses available on YouTube, you can find some here.

Case Study

Big Garden Bioblitz

Each year the four Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs) in Wales join together to run a national Garden BioBlitz.

A BioBlitz is an event where wildlife specialists and nature enthusiasts come together at a site to find as many different species of wildlife as possible on a single day. The Garden BioBlitz is a similar concept, but rather than gathering together at a single location, people look for all the nature to be found in their own garden. There is a timetable of activities to encourage participants to look at all the different species groups, such as plants, birds and insects. The sightings throughout the day are then sent in to the LERCs so that they can be added to the national wildlife database. In RCT, records are sent to SEWBReC , often via their online recording system.

Being an all Wales event, these annual occasions offer a snapshot of how wildlife is faring in gardens at a national level. Each year the LERCs analyse the records for information such as the most commonly recorded species, and which wildlife spotter sent in the most records!

You can see the results from the 2020 and 2021 Wales Garden BioBlitzes on SEWBReC’s website: 2020 and 2021. If you would like to get involved in future Garden BioBlitzes, you can sign up for regular emails from SEWBReC here or find them on social media.

RHONDDA CYNON TAF ACTION FOR NATURE PLAN