AN ARMY of amateur naturalists is being recruited to help professional scientists monitor the UK's wildlife and save some of its most threatened species.

Experts from the Natural History Museum and English Nature are calling on the United Kingdom's estimated 100,000 amateur naturalists - a veritable "green" army - to share their expertise in recording birds, mammals, insects, plants and even mosses.

To help harness amateurs' knowledge, the two organisations have launched a new scheme called, Amateurs: The Experts. They are running a series of projects across the nation with the aim of encouraging ramblers, fly-fishermen and others to record disappearing wildlife.

Johannes Vogel, the museum's head of the UK Biodiversity Programme and project coordinator for Amateurs: The Experts, said: "Sharing knowledge and expertise is essential for us to maximise our efforts to conserve the UK's wildlife.

"Britain has a long history of amateurs playing a major role in researching and preserving species. But this is the first time such a wide range of British organisations have attempted to bring the full wealth of amateur and professional knowledge together," he added.

One of the scheme's first fruits is the discovery by an amateur naturalist of a previously unknown fern. Cystopteris diaphana - diaphanous bladder fern - was the first UK fern to be spotted in more than 50 years. It was found by civil engineer Matt Stribley who was inspecting a bridge over the River Camel in Cornwall when he saw the unusual fern growing on the bank

The plant was originally thought to be brittle bladder fern, a widespread UK species. But after local botanical recorder Rosaline Murphy sent the specimen to the Natural History Museum, botanists identified it as diaphanous bladder fern, a species common in southern Europe but previously unknown in the UK. It is believed to have been in the UK for as long as 5,000 years.

"Britain is arguably the best biologically known piece of land in the world, so the discovery of a new native species is an increasingly rare and very exciting event," said Fred Rumsey, the museum botanist who identified the fern. "It is amazing to think this plant could have been waiting to be discovered since just after the last Ice Age. It just goes to show how important amateur naturalists are in helping us to discover more about British biodiversity."

Fly-fishermen are among groups being recruited for the scheme because they are well placed - literally - for observing wildlife while they stand quietly for hours in rivers.

Specialists from the museum are holding workshops across the UK to teach anglers identification techniques and encourage them to contribute data to national recording schemes for caddis flies (trichoptera) and mayflies (ephemeroptera).

"I've always been driven by a love of nature and a need to understand my local environment," said Anthony Keith Bridgett, a participant in the scheme and honorary secretary of the Leek & District Fly Fishing Association. "I have been a fly-fisherman for 60 years and, over the last 30 years, I've seen a definite decline in river insects which were once abundant. As fly-fishers spend so much time actually in the water, I think we are in the ideal position to investigate this trend."

The museum has teamed up with the Ramblers Association (RA) to monitor distribution of elm trees and track down survivors of a disease that killed off forests. The results recorded by ramblers will form a database that will be used to guide members of specialist groups as they search for the many threatened species associated with these truly British trees. Elms support a unique community of organisms including lichens, mosses, beetles and butterflies.

Since the 1970s, the UK has seen a dramatic change in its landscape after Dutch elm disease wiped out 20 million trees. By encouraging ramblers to record sightings of elms, the museum, with the help of the RA, hopes to find out where the last surviving mature elm trees are.

Less popular species are also being recorded as part of the Amateurs: The Experts project. Arable land has a distinctive bryophyte - mosses, liverworts and hornworts - flora, which has often been neglected in the past, making it difficult for scientists to known how it has changed. The museum and English Nature are working with volunteers from the British Bryological Society on a three-year national survey of bryophytes living on arable land.

Over the last 20 years, keen amateur plant-spotter Paul Green has spent what he reckons to be hundreds of days recording flora all over the British Isles. He even kept an eye open for unusual plants while he was making doorstep deliveries on his milk round in Somerset, south-west England. He now works with adults with learning difficulties in Liskeard, Cornwall, and combines walks with them with observing flora.

Paul Green recorded more plants than anybody else for the New Atlas - British & Irish Flora, published by the Botanical Society of the British Isles. "Without us amateurs, things like the atlas would not be done. I'm proud of my contribution to recording flora," he said.

Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, United Kingdom, SW7 5BD. Contact: Sarah Hoyle, Press Officer. Telephone: +44 20 7942 5654. Fax: +44 20 7942 5354

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