AN ACTION plan has bee formed to help protect Herefordshire's wildlife, which is increasingly under pressure.

Conservation groups, under the banner of Herefordshire Wildlife Link, have identified the problems and are putting forward solutions, in a New Year initiative.

A spokesman said: "While rural Herefordshire may appear to be a perfect paradise for wildlife, some of our county’s flora and fauna are struggling.

"Some types of habitat are becoming increasingly scarce and a number of species, both plant and animal, are in decline."

The spokesman added: "Herefordshire Wildlife Link, a collaboration of conservation organisations across the county, have identified those places and species which need support.

"This month they launched the Herefordshire Biodiversity Action Plan, which sets out the steps which need to be taken, listing the 17 species and 13 habitats which are most threatened."

The plan the spotlight on a number of specific problems, many of them linked to Herefordshire's waterways and ponds .

The spokesman said: "Different species suffer from various different threats. Some are being out-competed by a stronger, non-native relative. This is the case with the white clawed crayfish whose numbers have seriously dropped since the introduction of the larger signal crayfish which directly compete with our native species, as well as pass on deadly diseases.

"The water vole has suffered similarly from becoming prey to the American mink."

More often, a species’ habitat has been lost or fragmented through increased housing and business development, intensification of farming or the creation of impassable barriers such as roads or fences.

The spokesman said: "The dormouse is most suited to living in coppiced woodland where it scurries through the understorey but there are few areas of woodland now managed in this way and the pockets which are have become isolated from other woodlands preventing populations from expanding.

"The barn owl’s favoured supper is voles but the vole lives in hedgerows, uncultivated field edges and rough grassland – and all of these habitats are in decline."

The Biodiversity Action Plan lists the next steps to be taken for each species and habitat.

The spokesman said: "The first step is often to ensure that there is sufficient, up-to-date information about existing populations or extent of habitat. Further work might then include working alongside landowners and local communities to manage habitats while providing advice and training; installing nest boxes; recreating or restoring areas of habitat or even reintroduction of some numbers of a particular species."

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Manager, Andrew Nixon, said: “It is fantastic that organisations throughout the county have contributed to this Action Plan. We can now all co-ordinate our efforts and make a real difference to the wildlife in Herefordshire.”