Go Wild For Worms

Go Wild For Worms

This year Wild About Gardens is going wild about worms! These wriggly fellows are well known to gardeners all over. At first glance they might not seem particularly special, but they’re essential for our soils and wildlife. There are no less than 29 earthworm species in the UK and each one has an integral role in our ecosystem. It's time to take action for the worms in your garden!

Bedfordshire Earthworms

ESB logo
Bedfordshire is a county with a rich history of recording wildlife. However, like many UK counties, the earthworms of Bedfordshire are hugely under-recorded despite their widely recognised ecological importance. So just how little do we know about Bedfordshire earthworm diversity and distribution? And what is the Earthworm Society of Britain doing to rectify this lack of earthworm data?

New Earthworm Recorder's Handbook available to download

Earthworm Recorder Handbook

The Earthworm Society of Britain (ESB) is proud to announce that our new Earthworm Recorder's Handbook has been published on our website.

This document was designed to provide guidance for new and existing earthworm recorders with regards to all aspects of earthworm recording, including sampling and identification.

The handbook combines previous ESB guidance with new content and covers topics such as earthworm sampling techniques, earthworm preservation, recordng earthworms and identifying earthworms.

FSC BioLinks project announced

FSC BioLinks logo

The Field Studies Council have secured a £1.23 million The National Lottery grant through the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund invertebrate identification training and recording events across the West Midlands and South East England.

The project will include training courses covering beetles, true flies, aculeate hymentoptera, molluscs, freshwater invertebrates, true bugs, arachnids and (most importantly) soil invertebrates.

National Earthworm Recording Scheme Report 2016

NERS total records 2016

The records submitted to the National Earthworm Recording Scheme during 2016 have been processed and we bring you this report to show you what these records are starting to tell us. All of the records covered by this report are available to download from the NBN Gateway (just search for Earthworm Society of Britain).


2016 was a great year for the ESB and this report summarises our progress regarding:

Earthworm Key Testing Workshops

Earthworm expert (and Earthworm Society of Britain President) Emma Sherlock is in the process of updating the current FSC Key to the Identification of Earthworms of the UK & Ireland. The second edition will contain live photos of earthworms, updated taxonomy and a key to some of the non-native earthworm species that have been found in British greenhouses and botanical gardens.