AI Technology at the Forefront of Surrey Conservation Project

Published on: 6 Jun, 2025
Updated on: 8 Jun, 2025

Puttenham Common. Jon Hawkins

By David Reading

In a ground-breaking conservation project making use of Artificial Intelligence, teams of volunteers are being deployed to record the plant species which thrive on rare acid grassland habitats such as Puttenham Common.

The volunteers will visit sites of major importance using a specially-designed app to record plants found in these rare habitats. Artificial Intelligence will then be used to accurately match specific types of habitat with similar habitats close by, using satellite Earth Observation images.

In this way, large-scale plans can be developed to join up and protect these green spaces in a way that works best for wildlife.

The project called Space4Nature is a trailblazing habitat mapping and conservation project led by Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) and the University of Surrey. Local people are being invited to volunteer.

SWT says lowland dry acid grassland is found in former agricultural landscapes on acidic, often sandy, soils. These distinctive, threatened places can host up to 25 plant species per square metre.

In addition to fine grasses, lichens and mosses, these include species such as mouse-ear hawkweed, herbs such as sheep’s sorrel, and tiny annuals such as common stork’s-bill, changing forget-me-not, and parsley piert.

The adder – found in the kind of habitat being studied. Jon Hawkins

Dry acid grassland can also serve as vital habitats for ground-nesting birds including skylarks, reptiles such as adders and rare invertebrates including several cricket, bee and wasp species.

Dan Banks, Citizen Science Officer for the Space4Nature Project, said: “Conservation is increasingly reliant on new technologies to develop solutions that can be implemented at scale. But that doesn’t mean that old fashioned ‘ground truthing’ [a process of validating data] isn’t needed too.

“As the Artificial Intelligence capabilities being developed by our colleagues at University of Surrey become more sophisticated, we need more complex data to help them keep learning and evolving. With the climate and nature crisis becoming more severe, local people with an interest in nature can make a real difference by getting involved in local projects like Space4Nature.”

Walkers on Puttenham Common. Jon Hawkins

Over the last two years, Space4Nature has deployed more than 200 volunteers to some of the county’s most important chalk grassland, wetland and heathland habitats, including Chobham Common, Unstead wetland reserve, Sheepleas and Puttenham Common, to help inform the initial development of its AI programmes.

And through a partnership with Buglife’s B-Lines project, it also worked to create and connect more than 60 hectares of habitat for pollinators, including St Martha’s Hill outside Guildford.

Space4Nature has already been running for two years but what is new is the extension of its operations to more acid grassland and wetland habitats, to help provide a more comprehensive understanding of Surrey’s most important places for wildlife, and what steps might be taken to connect them up.

Learn more about Space4Nature, a three-year project made possible by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and how you can get involved as a volunteer.