This fifteen-year project has studied the fates and fortunes of 400 or so of the rarest plants in the county. The rate of loss of species has risen sharply from about one per decade to over ten per decade in the 1970s to 90s. Some of the loss has been due to habitats becoming unsuitable – as arable fields are now too clean for wild-flowers. Too much nutrient enrichment also makes habitats unsuitable, particularly water courses. Management is often important – small acid-loving plants have been shaded out on the Chiltern Commons when grazing has ceased. Active measures may be stemming the tide, and species are even returning – last year the Loddon pondweed returned to the Thames, and dioecious sedge was refound at the Lye Valley in Oxford.

As a graphic designer, publisher and wildlife expert, Peter Creed brings a keen eye for detail and a passion for wildlife into all of his design projects. He provides a wealth of experience of printed and online wildlife media to NatureBureau and hosts an image library of thousands of flora and fauna. He is also much in demand for leading wildlife walks and giving lectures.

Dr Lambrick studied botany at Cambridge and in New Guinea before she came to Oxford in 1978. Here she worked briefly for BBOWT as an orchid warden, and was involved in starting the Oxford Conservation Volunteers. In 1993 she set up ANHSO’s Rare Plants Group, now the Oxfordshire Flora Group, which works in partnerships with many bodies to carry out monitoring, experiments and introductions to protect endangered plants in the county. From 2000-07 she was employed to carry out biological surveys on the Local Wildlife Sites by the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre.