TODAY’S wildlife recording conference is being run by an organisation devoted to logging sightings.

The Environmental Records Information Centre North East (ERIC) is based at the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

Speakers at the conference will talk on red squirrels, the condition of ancient woodlands in the Tees Valley, counting adders as part of the Heart of Durham project, the Big Sea Survey based at the Dove Marine Laboratory in Cullercoats, moth diversity at the Tees estuary and the WildWatch North Pennines project. So far ERIC has filed 1.7m records of species and habitats in the region.

The latest boost has come from the WildWatch project, backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has involved volunteers recording species in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

That has so far added 4,000 records to ERIC’s database.

Katherine Pinnock, ERIC co-ordinator, said that the records are important for areas like planning and nature conservation management.

“This data would not be available without the hard work and dedication of the people who share their records with us,” she says.

“A vast amount of ecological data is collected by voluntary recorders and naturalist groups in addition to the organisations who collect data as part of their normal business.

“Thanks to this hard work, nature conservation in the region can be much better informed.

“We are always looking for people to send us records all the time.”

People can log their sightings on www.ericnortheast.org.uk or by calling 0191 222 5158.