Welcome to the Tracking Mammals Partnership (TMP) website. TMP is a collaborative initiative, which aims to improve the quality, quantity and dissemination of information on the status of mammal species in the UK.

We have 62 species and 4 subspecies of land mammals (these do not include seals and cetaceans; a specific section of the JNCC website is dedicated to cetaceans) with resident populations in the UK (including bats), all of which are important components of our rich and varied biodiversity. Many of our 40 native species experienced substantial declines throughout the 20th century for a variety of reasons. Many of the 22 non-native species have detrimental effects on our native fauna and flora.

A  first major report was published by the TMP in 2005.

Updates on the work carried out by all the volunteers who collect data for organisations in the TMP are also published annually.

Results of mammal surveillance schemes are published here bringing together all relevant information on the work of the Partnership.

The Surveillance and Monitoring Programme is run by organisations in the Partnership, with the help of a nationwide network of volunteers and provides the data to assess changes in distribution and abundance of different species.

Two Scoping Studies outline the rationale for the work of the TMP.

A series of reports provides detailed information on results from individual schemes.

Volunteer participation is a key part of information delivery for the TMP. The organisations that run the surveillance schemes rely very heavily on volunteers to collect the data. We all recognise the contribution made by volunteers and the TMP organisations have concentrated much effort on developing a range of services to assist volunteers to provide better quality data.

Best Practice Guidelines on different issues, ranging from surveillance and monitoring methods, to managing volunteer networks, to health and safety issues have been produced through the collaborative working of the TMP, bringing together the collective knowledge and expertise of organisations.

The TMP Steering Group manages the Partnership, providing an advisory and co-ordinating role, working to agreed Terms of Reference.

Focus Groups have been formed to make decisions on the best way to carry out surveillance on different groups of mammals.

A Surveillance and Monitoring Strategy for UK Terrestrial Biodiversity

The TMP is part of a wider strategy for biodiversity surveillance and monitoring across the UK, which intends to cover some components of all terrestrial habitats (there is a separate marine surveillance strategy) and species to inform on the following issues:

Policy and management decisions. The UK government, devolved administrations, non government organisations, conservation practitioners and wildlife managers require good quality information on the status and changing fortunes of different elements of biodiversity in order to produce effective conservation and wildlife management policy. It is also important to know whether policy and management are achieving the intended goals and monitoring changes in habitat area and structure and species abundance and distribution help to inform this.

Human induced environmental pressures. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has identified five major pressures on the environment, including habitat transformation, non native species, pollution, over exploitation of natural resources and climate change. Information from monitoring changes in species and habitats can be used in conjunction with other environmental information to show the affects of these pressures and identify causal factors of change. This is essential to put corrective management in place.

International and European Conventions and Directives and national law and conservation policy set legislative obligations that require sound evidence for decision making and national reporting requirements. All UK terrestrial mammals, excluding island subspecies, also occur in continental Europe and some have worldwide distributions. Some species, including otter, Scottish wildcat and all UK bats, are afforded protection under a range of international treaties because of European or worldwide declines. Understanding what is happening to UK populations of these internationally protected species helps to set their conservation importance in a wider context.

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan was set up to provide protection for some of our most threatened species. Information on changes in distribution and abundance enable us to assess whether the initiative is being successful.

Public engagement and education.  Skilled volunteers are extremely important to the success of many surveillance schemes and often it would be impossible to collect the necessary data without them. Many volunteers attend training courses to improve their survey and identification skills and receive newsletters about the results of the work they have done and thereby improve their knowledge and understanding.

It is also important to inform the general public about issues affecting wildlife in urban environments and in the wider countryside. Obtaining public support and involvement can be the keys to success. Engaging people more widely in biodiversity conservation through mass participation surveys, easy to access websites, and annual reports and newsletters are ideal methods for achieving better education and information dissemination.