Public Funding for Hemsworth Farms LLP

40% of insect species risk extinction, a further 30% endangered (New Scientist 2019), yet few farmers actively monitor or quantify on farm biodiversity, despite it being a critically important measure of ecosystem, landscape, overall biological health of the farm, and key public good. This project will monitor biodiversity 24/7 where three separate remote sensing digital technologies will detect, identify, and quantify varieties of invertebrates, and birds, and the correlation to flowering plants that they rely on. Escalating ecological challenges combined with Government policies devised to address the crisis - such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery, and emerging Natural Capital markets - mean that efficient methods - which can be widely deployed - to monitor wildlife are in demand. There are not enough expert ecologists to cover the areas and hours required to accurately quantify the state of nature in any one location which makes the capability and accuracy of technological solutions valuable. A key priority of this research project is to act as a 'pilot' which will test and aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of digital technology as a means of remotely monitoring wildlife diversity and abundance in a farming context.