Many would say they care deeply about the living things we share our world with – especially now many species of plants and animals are in decline and may become extinct if we do nothing to help them.

An important way we can help them is to volunteer for a nature charity. It doesn’t have to involve great physical effort, such as helping restore wildlife habitats, but just counting species: the RSPB’s Garden Birdwatch and Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count spring to mind.

Space4Nature, the ground-breaking habitat mapping and conservation project led by Surrey Wildlife Trust and the University of Surrey, is deploying teams of volunteers to record the plant species which thrive on acid grassland habitats – and local people are invited to join in.

Dan Banks, Space4Nature citizen science officer, explained: “The volunteers will visit sites of importance for nature including Puttenham Common, where Space4Nature is working in partnership with the Hampton Estate. We are using a specially-designed app to record plants which typify these rare and precious habitats, including heath bedstraw, sheep’s sorrel and harebell.

“These results will help complete the design of Artificial Intelligence (AI) modelling that will be used to accurately match specific types of habitat with similar habitats close by using satellite Earth observation images. Large-scale plans can then be developed to join up and protect these green spaces in a way that works best for wildlife.”

Lowland dry acid grassland is found in former agricultural landscapes on acidic, often sandy, soils. These distinctive but threatened places can host up to 25 plant species per square metre. In addition to fine grasses, lichens and mosses, these include species such as mouse-ear hawkweed, herbs such as sheep’s sorrel, and tiny annuals such as common stork’s-bill, changing forget-me-not and parsley piert.

It can also serve as vital habitats for ground-nesting birds including skylarks, reptiles including adders and rare invertebrates including several cricket, bee and wasp species.

Dan explained that conservation is increasingly reliant on new technologies to develop solutions that can be implemented at scale, but that “footwork” is needed too. He said: “As the AI capabilities being developed by our colleagues at the University of Surrey become more sophisticated, we need more complex data to help them keep learning and evolving.

“With the climate and nature crisis becoming more severe, local people with an interest in nature can make a real difference by getting involved in local projects like Space4Nature.”

Over the last two years, Space4Nature has deployed over 200 volunteers to some of the county’s most important chalk grassland, wetland and heathland habitats – including Chobham Common, Unstead wetland reserve, Sheepleas and Puttenham Common – to help with the initial development of its AI programmes.

And, through a partnership with Buglife’s B-Lines project, it also worked to create and connect more than 60 hectares of habitat for pollinators, including at Quarry Hangers near Caterham and Rosamund Meadows and St Marthas Hill outside Guildford.

Dan revealed that, later this year, the Space4Nature team intends to extend its operations to more acid grassland and wetland habitats. “This is to help provide a more comprehensive understanding of Surrey’s most important places for wildlife, and what steps might be taken to connect them up,” he said.

You can learn more about Space4Nature, made possible by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and how you can be involved as a volunteer at https://tinyurl.com/space4nature