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Conservation in Practice

Our Work

EcoSentience begins with one clear job: build useful evidence and practical care for ancient woodland, starting at Mickley Wood.

Place

Mickley Wood

The anchor woodland where our fieldwork, monitoring, and research partnerships begin.

Research

Fungi & eDNA

A focused route into hidden woodland biodiversity, especially fungi and soil life.

Evidence

Monitoring

Microclimate and field observations that make woodland change easier to understand.

Tools

Responsible AI

Data and AI workflows that support human judgement rather than replacing it.

Anchor Woodland

Mickley Wood

Mickley Wood, part of the Hyon's Wood area in Northumberland, gives EcoSentience a real landscape to work from. It keeps the charity grounded in place rather than abstract claims about technology and nature.

Our work there is practical: field observations, habitat context, microclimate monitoring, eDNA research planning, and public education that helps people notice the life below the obvious canopy.

The woodland is the focus of the work, not a backdrop. Its soils, fungi, trees, deadwood, moisture, and seasonal rhythms are what we are trying to understand and protect.

Explore Mickley Wood

Fungal Biodiversity

eDNA Research

Environmental DNA, or eDNA, can help detect organisms from traces left in soil, water, and other environmental samples. For woodland work, it offers a way to look beyond what can be seen during a walk-through survey.

Our intended first research focus is fungal biodiversity at Mickley Wood. Fungi help shape decomposition, nutrient cycling, tree relationships, and woodland resilience, yet they are often under-noticed in public conservation conversations.

This work is still funding-dependent. Donations support sampling, laboratory analysis, data processing, and the careful interpretation needed to turn results into useful conservation evidence.

Current Need

Funding for eDNA sampling and lab analysis is one of the clearest ways to help EcoSentience move from promise to usable woodland evidence.

Donate to the Research

Environmental Context

Monitoring Woodland Conditions

Species records make more sense when they are read alongside local conditions. Temperature, humidity, light, soil moisture, and seasonal change all affect what can live and thrive in a woodland.

EcoSentience is developing a cautious monitoring approach at Mickley Wood: small, low-disturbance sensor work, clear field notes, and records that can be checked and explained later.

The aim is not to collect data for its own sake. The aim is to make woodland change more visible, so volunteers, researchers, landowners, and supporters can make better decisions.

Responsible Technology

AI Is a Tool, Not the Mission

EcoSentience uses AI and data tools to help organise evidence, compare records, identify patterns worth human review, and communicate woodland science clearly. Human judgement remains central.

Aurora is the name of our developing internal AI and memory system. It supports research, monitoring, governance, and communication workflows; it does not replace trustees, researchers, volunteers, or ecological expertise.

We keep technology accountable by preferring transparent records, human approval gates, cautious claims, and practical conservation value over novelty.

Pattern support

Highlight signals in data for human review.

Evidence memory

Keep notes, sources, and observations traceable.

Clear communication

Turn complex ecology into public-facing explanations.

Help Build the Evidence

Support eDNA research, woodland monitoring, and volunteer-led conservation at Mickley Wood.

Donate Discuss a Partnership