NBN - National Biodiversity Network
Building knowledge by sharing information
National Biodiversity Network
The National Biodiversity Network gathers together data on habitats and species and puts them into a common format that everyone can access. The NBN's mission is to improve the care of the UK's natural heritage by providing people with up-to-date and accurate information.
The organisations in the network have committed to collecting and sharing standardised data. To help people collect and record standardised data, the network has also produced a dictionary of habitat types and species names.
Local Record Centres
Local Record Centres (LRCs) co-ordinate and manage data on habitats and species for each area. In North East Scotland the local record centre is called North East Scotland Biological Records Centre or NESBReC. NESBReC also hosts The Cairngorms Biological Records Centre.
You don't have to be an expert to record wildlife, anybody can submit records to NESBReC using the website link shown above.
Records centres are an important resource. These are some of the ways that biological records are used:
- To produce distribution maps, for public interest and to help plan conservation projects
- To direct rural funding towards the habitats and species present in the area.
- To help inform planners which habitats and species are present on the sites of proposed developments.
- To identify gaps in knowledge and plan survey work
- To monitor the effects of environmental changes and conservation work on species and habitats
As well as storing records, NESBReC runs courses to train new recorders, carries out extensive survey work and supports a local network of biological recorders.