This is a joint event with Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

Earthworms are one of the most under recorded invertebrate groups in the UK, despite their importance for soil health. In fact, we don’t know anyone in Cheshire regularly making biological records of them. Join Natural England’s Soil Biodiversity Specialist Dr Matthew Shepherd to learn the basics of how to identify UK earthworms using microscopes. The course will also cover how to find and sample earthworms in the field. Please be aware that we will be killing some earthworms on the day in order to learn how to make accurate identifications. This is will not impact populations but is essential for training and collecting data to better understand the status of earthworm species, which can be used to inform conservation.