President's Page
Peter Harvey 32 Lodge Lane, Grays, Essex RM16 2YP. Tel: (01375) 371571.
Email: grays@peterharvey.freeserve.co.uk
Our mission statement summarises the aims of the Club as helping and encouraging the
people and organisations of Essex to enjoy, understand, study and record Essex natural
history (including the fauna, flora, geology and lithic archaeology). Our specific objects
include the study and recording of the natural history of the County of Essex for the
education and benefit of the general public, supporting the maintenance of an up-to-
date record of all local natural history sites, as well as making appropriate data and
historical material available for the purposes of conservation, research, monitoring,
education and general information.
Our website provides a crucial way in which these objectives can be realised, not only to
our membership and other naturalists, but to the wider public. The interest the website
currently achieves is reflected by the numbers of visitors, which now stands at over
36,000 per year, many from all over Britain, Europe and worldwide. The website
continues to evolve with more and more developments to benefit the Club's members
and the general public. It is now possible for example to join the Club or pay your
subscription on line using Google Checkout. I mentioned in the last newsletter the
weblog facility that enables any logged-on user to report interesting sightings, ask
questions and generally post pictures and information or questions. Its use has yet to be
generally taken up, and I urge members with internet access to help raise the profile of
the Club's activities and interests by taking a little time occasionally to participate.
I also mentioned in the last newsletter the facility for all registered website users to add
or edit sites of wildlife and geological interest which are then available as site accounts
on the website. I have extended the site picture submission so that users may upload any
number of pictures for a site that will then be shown on the site account page. All pictures
carry the photographer's copyright and arc linked to additional information where this
is given. I urge members to help these projects by submitting and adding information
about sites that hold an interest for you for whatever reason. Gerald Lucy has already
provided text and pictures for nearly 100 geological sites towards a gazetteer of Essex
geological sites (see A Mammoth in the High Street in the 2007 Essex Naturalist). I
would especially encourage all members to upload pictures (at web quality) to help
illustrate features of interest for sites. There are many times I have kicked myself for not
taking pictures of places or habitats that would have proved very useful even after a few
years. In years to come pictures like these would constitute a valuable historical record.
Bill George explains in the article later in this newsletter about our plan to provide a
database of 'noteworthy naturalists' on the website (including geologists, mineralogists,
palaeontologists, botanists, zoologists and other scientists as well as wildlife naturalists).
Bill has already started off this process with three noteworthy Essex naturalists, which
can be found either through the A-Z Noteworthy Naturalist Index or the left menu
Resources > Essex naturalists. Please help by adding to the database using the noteworthy
naturalist form. Most entries will be historical, but entries do not need to be confined to
this. As with other facilities where pictures can be uploaded, for obvious reasons we have
restricted this to users that register.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 56, May 2008 1