Tree Clearance

[david dell]

South Bucks sounds like "Burnham Beeches" which was recommended to us some years ago but never got there.

[David Edington]

David--Site data in form of map and instructions sent to your usual mailbox---please confirm that they reached you then I can file them until any other suitable enquiry arrives.
This is early but you never know what disaster awaits.(see MJ's latest notes)

Nothing has arrived thro' cyberspace into my mailbox as yet David, but have emailed you directly to confirm correct address.

Many thanks

David

[Leif Goodwin]

South Bucks sounds like "Burnham Beeches" which was recommended to us some years ago but never got there.

Yes, it is first rate for scarce species, including spine fungi. I guess any ancient woodland with mossy banks should be a good bet.

[david dell]

A friend of ours managed to get some trips round Windsor Great Park with the celebrated "Mr Green" which polished up his knowledge of both" tooth and bracket "fungi! Not sure how it was organised---perhaps he just asked!

[admin]

It seems there is more to this than I first imagined and that quite a lot has been going on. With an 'earth slippage' drastic measures will have to take place, but not knowing anything about the area you describe, I can only hope MJ has quietly got in touch with Pete Stevens from Natural England and that he will be contacting you soon.

Neil.

I'm afraid I don't really know what has happened to Pete Stevens of late. After the sad fiasco of the March 2009 Fungus Conservation Forum meeting, which effectively sealed the demise of the FCF, he does seem to have faded from the scene vis-a-vis mycology. If he is active I can't say. I have emailed him several times with a guest invitation to the ABFG AGM on this Sunday, which I had hoped would get him back in the loop, but received no reply to any of those messages. On 13th February I reminded him again, with the comment: 'I do hope I can get you (or someone else from NE if you are busy) to the AGM, because it may amount to quite a defining moment ***.' However, the last communication I had from Pete was early in February asking only if the ABFG could help a research worker in Aberdeen with information on a BAP list species, but this was little more than passing on a message. The only other possibly significant comment from Pete was back in January when he noted that NE 'has not the funding or resources to carry out all of the surveying and monitoring.' This message really seemed to imply that it was 'down to us' at least for the time being.

*** I am delivering a paper on Sunday about the continuing nonsensical situation vis-a-vis the BMS and ABFG, which is not entirely without relevance to the above, and which needs to be resolved in a more intelligent way than is being demonstrated at the moment.

MJ

[Neil]

That doesn't sound too good at all, first Carl Borges moves on, now it seems Pete Stevens may have gone to pastures anew as well.
This is really worrying if NE now has no fungal coordinator at all.

Neil Mahler.

[david dell]

toothed fungi site info.Will have to rewrite it in the autumn!PC required to be put in "recovery" mode,instead of going back to last recovery point it went back to "OEM" load.Now have to reload my programs and see if any data is accessible on hard drive.

[admin]

A moment to re-stress the importance of getting this data on BAP species into CATE. The ABFG invested in the BAP information sheets in 2006 but we still cannot complete the dossiers because a number of recorders and groups are still not passing across their data. Bear in mind that data on places and grid refs is only available to people registered for full access to CATE.

CATE is a formidable system. It is far in advance of any other UK mycological data system, and if we are to move ahead on projects like Important Fungus Areas, Biodiversity Action Plans and Red Data, it is unquestionably the most effective machinery with which to do it. But there is a frustration, not merely over the few remaining entrenched groups whose attitude is 'Why should I help the ABFG - it ain't my gang?'' but with individual recorders who could be doing so much to help to conservation effort, if only they were getting their records across.

David Dell has achieved a fantastic input of 40,000 records to CATE, but 20 miles down the road, the Hants Fungus Group operating in the south of the county, steadfastly contributes nothing because of futile politics!

MJ