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Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 22 43
CARSE: RECORDING THE NATURAL HERITAGE OF CENTRAL
SCOTLAND
Lesley Brown
In the 1960’s and early 1970’s the effects of human activities on the
environment were becoming evident to both scientists and the public alike.
Once common plant and animal species were becoming noticeably rarer. This
realisation along with books such as Rachael Carson’s The Silent Spring, sparked
the public awareness of the steady decrease in, what is now called, Biodiversity
and a renewed interest in the environment in general and environmental
recording in particular.
The biological recording movement in Scotland started to gel in the mid-
1970’s prompted by both professional scientists and amateur naturalists, and
eventually leading to the formation of the umbrella organisation Biological
Recording in Scotland (BRISC). The creation of a dedicated Local Biological
Record Centre (LRC) covering Clackmannan, Falkirk and Stirling had been
evolving since the late 1970’s and three years ago this LRC was called Central
Area Recording System for the Environment, CARSE for short. CARSE is now
a limited company and registered charity which operates a computerised
database for recording all wildlife found in Central Scotland, i.e. – Stirling,
Clackmannan and Falkirk Council areas, and is based in the Smith Museum in
Stirling.
CARSE recently received a grant from the National Lottery Charities Board
which has allowed us to employ a full-time Wildlife Records Officer on a threeyear
contract. The new Wildlife Records Officer, Lesley Brown, had previously
worked with Biological Record Centres in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. The
grant has also enabled CARSE to become a more professional operation with
new telephone and fax lines, an answering machine and a new computer. This
should enable us to produce more and better reports and newsletters (1) and
allow Email distribution to online members. It should also facilitate more
efficient processing of records and the future use of Geographical Information
Systems for map based referencing.
CARSE is involved with the local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) of
Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannan Councils. LBAPs are part of the
implementation of the Rio Earth Summit Agreements and identify locally
important Biodiversity and endangered species and habitats. We exchange
information with statutory bodies, e.g. Scottish Natural Heritage, voluntary
bodies, e.g. Scottish Wildlife Trust, Amateur Entomologists’ Society and
Butterfly Conservation, and with Ranger Services and other Local Biological
Record Centres. We also support both local and nationally run environmental
surveys.
In Spring 1999 CARSE launched a Wetland Wildflower Survey highlighting
the species Cuckoo Flower, Ragged Robin and Yellow Flag Iris and their