This course is part of a series to help you recognise and understand grassland plant communities of acid, neutral and calcareous soils.

Book your place here.

Location

The in-person session will be delivered at  Crickley Hill Country Park, Gloucestershire, GL4 8JY; What3Words: ///soaps.altering.owns

Parking is pay and display, at a flat fee of £2.50, you can pay by cash, phone, app or online.

Dates and Timings

The in-person session will be delivered on 18th June 2026, 10:00-15:30.  

The introductory recording will be sent out to candidates two weeks prior. 

This course covers calcareous grassland and is delivered in 2 parts – 1, a recording to watch in advance that will introduce calcareous grasslands and; 2, an in-person training session looking at calcareous grasslands in the field. These will cover:

• An introduction to calcareous grasslands
• Geology and soils
• Broad geographic distribution
• Habitat descriptions and definitions
• Identification of key indicator species for calcareous grasslands
• Calcareous grassland plant communities and what they can tell us about the land

About the Tutor

This session will be run by Sam Braine. Sam is an ecologist and field botanist, with nine years’ of professional consultancy experience. Sam leads Plantlife’s Biodiversity Consultancy. He is accredited to FISC Level 5 in vascular plant identification and is passionate about sharing botanical knowledge.  

• Understand what defines calcareous grasslands
• Be able to identify key indicator species for calcareous grasslands, including grasses and sedges
• Be able to recognise different types of calcareous grasslands
• Understand the conditions and landscape context of calcareous grasslands

• People who survey, assess and manage grasslands.
• Participants should have some basic botanical identification skills.