This work is a landmark in the historical journey of British botany. It will provide a source of reliable information about vegetation for research workers, conservation managers and dedicated amateurs for many years to come.

It is the culmination of fifteen years’ detailed survey and analysis of British vegetation. It began in 1975 with a contract from the Nature Conservancy Council to Lancaster University and involved leading ecologists in this and other universities contributing their particular skills in a coordinated team. During the course of the project, many other botanists and researchers have willingly supplied their data and ideas, which have enhanced the final work greatly.

The published work will be in five volumes - woodlands and scrub; mires and heaths; grasslands and montane vegetation; aquatic communities, swamps and tail-herb fens; maritime and weed communities.

The aim of the project is to describe British vegetation as a series of plant communities, to understand how these relate to one another and to set them in a wider European context. The scheme is systematic and analytical and it takes into account the influence of environmental factors and management practices, an understanding of which is vital for the conservation of vegetation.

We who are the inheritors of the good work of the Nature Conservancy Council will use the work also in measuring our own progress in conserving and studying the rich variety of British plant communities.

Professor Sir Frederick Holliday CBE DL FRSE

Chairman Designate

Joint Nature Conservation Committee