Plea for wildlife sightings in Herefordshire

Wildlife sightings from the River Wye will be particularly important, the Wildlife Trust says

People in Herefordshire are being urged to record sightings of animals and plants so conservationists can work out what is thriving or declining.

Residents are being asked by the local Wildlife Trust to monitor species near the county's rivers in particular.

A new website has been launched by the group for people to record their sightings.

"The more information we have, the better we can understand the issues," Claire Spicer, from the trust, said.

Water quality in the county's rivers, such as the Wye and Lugg, is an ongoing issue, with a council-led commission investigating solutions.

Low numbers of salmon in the waterways have been regularly reported, the trust says.

The remains of dead fish were seen in the River Wye in 2022 during the summer's hot weather

Drifts of water crowfoot had vanished, it added, and in 2022 the Environment Agency reported many dead fish in the Wye due to the summer's warm weather.

"We know many species in our rivers are suffering from the effects of pollution but it's vital we have data to evidence this," Ms Spicer said.

The trust said it had a guide to wildlife on its website and people's records of sightings would be checked by experts and fed into a national database.