A major £1.2 million project to train more biology experts to fight species decline has been completed in Bucks.

Over the past five years, the Field Studies Council’s BioLinks project has trained more than 5,500 learners at the Amersham field study centre at Mop End to help protect UK wildlife.

The learners now have the necessary skills and knowledge to identify invertebrates, including vulnerable bees and beetles, and the training has already resulted in more than 35,000 additional invertebrate records being submitted to the national database.

BioLinks project manager Keiron Derek Brown explained: “The success of this project is hugely significant particularly at a time when there is so much concern for our declining UK species.

“Information on sightings submitted to the national database is used by researchers and wider organisations to influence conservation policy and land management schemes so there is a pressing need to ensure people have the right skills to accurately record species as well as the knowledge to submit records.

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“This project directly addressed that need by training thousands of individuals – those with little or no previous knowledge right through to professionals in the sector who were looking to upskill and apply their understanding of invertebrate ecology directly to the management of existing wildlife sites and nature reserves.

“Understanding what species live where can tell us so much about a particular habitat and environment and can help guide us on what we do next in terms of site management and protection of species. The more data we have, the more accurately we can determine whether a particular species is in decline.”

An independent audit of the project, which was funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said it could become a blueprint for future initiatives.