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Who are we?
We are an independent group of biologists,
both plant and animal specialists. We aim to represent the
views of the recorders, amateur and professional and work
closely with, and hopefully add substantially to, but not
duplicate, the work already carried out in Cornwall and the
Isles of Scilly by existing wildlife groups and
organisations.
Our role
We were formed out of the view that this
region is biologically important in the British Isles and
indeed, within Europe as a whole. In and around it are
valuable areas of plants and animals, many constantly changing
through shifts in natural balances as well as a multiplicity
of changes due to man's influence. Availability of fundamental
biological data has probably never been as important as it is
today: yet its availability is a constant challenge. Where
there is a lack of fundamental biological information, we help
to fill the gap, through the application of field-based
expertise. As records are only as good as the quality of the
information that goes into them; quality not quantity is our
aim, at a critical and professional level. Our autonomy means
that data can be collected impartially and objectively, and
independently of any political issues involved.
We are not ourselves trying to apply that
information to conservation issues - just to collect it,
authenticate it, update it and make those data available. We
can also help to analyse and interpret it, to plan the
structured collection of additional data, and where
appropriate, set its significance within the wider European
and international sphere. This alone can contribute a useful
and authoritative dimension.
We are thus not a conservation or recording
organisation ourselves. The rose of the group is to support
recorders and take records forward in a way which does not
duplicate but complements existing effort in conservation and
environmental data collection. We are, as it were, the trade
union of recorders, in so far as we represent the views and
aims of recorders, and exist to strengthen their
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