Our main objective is to produce the first amphibian and reptile atlas for the vice counties of South and West Lancashire (vice counties 59 and 60 respectively), an area now covered by Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
The aims of LARA:
To support and encourage the recording of amphibians and reptiles in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
To promote recording in areas that are currently under-recorded, such as north and east Lancashire.
To provide a resource to support the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
To actively collect data that is otherwise unavailable for conservation purposes (for example records that remains in surveyors notebooks).
To bring together existing data to enable a better understanding of species distribution in the vice counties of South and West Lancashire.
What is a vice county?
The vice county system was established in 1852 and it is still the basis of many wildlife recording schemes today. The advantage of this system is that recording area boundaries remain fixed, whereas administrative county boundaries often change over time (for example the extensive re-drawing of county boundaries in 1974).
For more information see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_Counties
Download an A4 map showing the vice county boundaries here
This project has been funded by OPAL, The Open Air Laboratories Network
an area now encompassing
Lancashire,
Greater Manchester
and Merseyside
The recording area covered by LARA