An Andover charity is looking for budding scientists and armchair ecologists to get involved in a new project to discover the wildlife the town has to offer.

Andover Trees United is looking for 12 nature-loving Andoverians to help them record the wildlife present in Harmony Woods as part of a new project launching next month. Their work will complement a range of new activities the charity is planning to run as lockdown restrictions ease.

Wendy Davis, Andover Trees United’s founder, said: “Although it had been our intention to increase community involvement in data collection before now, the pandemic has prevented this.

“However, we have worked hard to bring in Covid-secure measures and procedures to protect our staff, volunteers and participants and with all the events taking place outdoors the risk of infection is very low.”

Citizen science is a branch of scientific research conducted by non-scientists to help create and process large datasets. In recent years, citizen science projects have helped identify new planets, digitise historical records and understand how viruses function in a range of projects that would take individual scientists many years to complete alone.

Now, Andover Trees United is looking to take advantage of the wealth of untapped potential in Andover by recruiting them to help with wildlife surveys as part of the Nature in Harmony project.

The charity hopes the project will enhance current scientific understanding of the 44 acres of Harmony Woods, near Augusta Park, and give individuals who take part the opportunity to take action in their own community and improve their understanding of ecology and conservation.

They are looking for 12 members of the community to act as recording assistants to take part in regular wildlife surveys. No experience is required as training will be given in field survey techniques and species identification by the project ecologist, Alex Marshall.

This step marks the beginning of phase two of Nature in Harmony, with a baseline of the site having already been established. The new data collected by volunteers will assess how the charity’s work in the woods is having an impact on biodiversity.

Alex said: “The data participants collect is so important and will give policymakers, researchers, and the public alike more accurate information about our local environment and biodiversity.”

Over the next three months, Andover Trees United will also be running a programme of events to complement the scientific research activity. Funded by the Nineveh Charitable Trust, the events, which are open to all, will include a bat detecting walk, pond dipping activities and wildflower identification workshops. A full list of events will be published shortly.

For more information on how to get involved, please visit: www.andovertrees.org.uk/nature-in-harmony.