A HEREFORDSHIRE special interest group has launched into 2014 with new name and a new ambitious project - to produce a detailed map of local wildlife.

The Herefordshire Mammal Group, formerly known as the Herefordshire Action for Mammals (HAM), is building on 15 years of recording local mammal populations such as dormouse, water voles, and bats to produce an atlas showing the distribution of mammals throughout the country.

In addition to the Herefordshire Mammal Atlas, the Herefordshire Mammal Group is currently working on another local project “Herefordshire Woodland Bats Project”. Both projects involve collecting mammal records to help determine the state of Herefordshire’s wildlife.

Group spokesperson, Jessica Lamerton said: "This is where the local public could help. Submitting records to the Herefordshire Biological Records Centre for mammals observed is really useful even it is a squirrel or rabbit. Interestingly the mole is an endangered species in Herefordshire as we have very few records in the county.

"It is extremely important to conserve the ecosystems of our local mammals as their habitats are very much under pressure from farming practices, development and the recent weather. Herefordshire is still a very rural county and it has a diversity of mammal species. Higher predators that rely on them, like barn owls and kestrels are seriously in decline so we have to consider providing habitat which will support the smaller mammals for iconic species like the barn owl to survive."

Anyone is welcome to get involved in the mammal survey.

Furher details on, herefordmammals@bigfoot.com