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The National Biodiversity Network (UK) (NBN) is a collaborative venture set up in 2000 in the United Kingdom [1] committed to making biodiversity information available through various media, including on the internet via the NBN Atlas—the data search website of the NBN. [2]
It is estimated that up to 60,000 people routinely record biodiversity information in the UK and Ireland. Most of this effort is voluntary and is organised through about 2,000 national societies and recording schemes. The UK government through its agencies also collects biodiversity data and one of the principal elements for the collation and interpretation of this data is the network of Local Environmental Records Centres. [3]
In 2012, it had been listed in the top 1,000 UK charities that raised most donations. [4]
The NBN Trust [1] —the organisation facilitating the building of the Network—supports agreed standards for the collection, collation and exchange of biodiversity data and encourages improved access. The present partnership consists of over 200 public and voluntary organisations and individual members.
The NBN Atlas currently holds over 300 million species records from over 1000 different datasets (August 2024). [2] Data on the NBN Atlas can be accessed by anyone interested in UK, Northern Ireland and Isle of Man wildlife and can be searched at many different levels, as it allows the viewing of distribution maps and the downloading of data by using a variety of interactive tools. The maps can be customised by date range and can show changes in a species’ distribution.
The organisation believes that, by providing tools to make wildlife data accessible in a digitised and exchangeable form and by providing easy access to the information people need, wise and informed decisions can be made to ensure the natural environment is protected now and for future generations.
The National Biodiversity Network Trust employs a team to facilitate and co-ordinate its growth and development and is governed by a Board of Trustees. The NBN Trust is a registered charity. [5]
The Wildlife Trusts, the trading name of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, is an organisation made up of 46 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and Alderney. The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after more than 2,300 nature reserves, covering around 98,500 hectares. As of 2020, the Trusts have a combined membership of over 870,000 members.
BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation and registered charity devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in Ireland. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC). Irish Wildbird Conservancy was founded in 1968, among others by Major Robert (Robin) Ruttledge, an Irish ornithologist who became its first president.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity based in Devizes, England which owns and manages 40 nature reserves in Wiltshire and Swindon. It also works to encourage Wiltshire's communities to live sustainable lifestyles that protect the environment.
Durham Wildlife Trust is a registered charity that was established in 1971, originally as the Durham County Conservation Trust, becoming Durham Wildlife Trust in 1988. The Trust operates across the area of the old County Durham, which includes Darlington, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.
The Avon Wildlife Trust aims to protect and promote wildlife in the area of the former county of Avon – now Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, in England. It has its headquarters in Bristol and runs wildlife centres at Folly Farm, Somerset and Grow Wilder, Frenchay, North Bristol.
The Biological Records Centre (BRC) established in 1964, is a national focus in the UK for terrestrial and fresh water species recording.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the world; GBIF's information architecture makes these data accessible and searchable through a single portal. Data available through the GBIF portal are primarily distribution data on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes for the world, and scientific names data.
Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, includes flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources.
The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the specialist biodiversity centre of UN Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UN Environment Programme since 2000 and has responsibility for biodiversity assessment and support to policy development and implementation. The "World Conservation Monitoring Centre" was previously an independent organisation jointly managed by IUCN, UN Environment Programme and WWF established in 1988. Prior to that, the centre was a part of the IUCN Secretariat.
The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) is a centre for excellence in environmental science across water, land and air. The organisation has a long history of investigating, monitoring and modelling environmental change. It operates from four sites in the UK and one in Ghana. Research topics include: air pollution, biodiversity, chemical risks in the environment, extreme weather events, droughts, floods, greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, sustainable agriculture, sustainable ecosystems, water quality, and water resources management.
The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) is a registered British charity dedicated to the conservation of bats and their habitats in the UK. BCT was founded in 1991 and is the only national organisation solely devoted to bats. Its vision is a world where bats and people live in harmony. BCT currently has a membership of around 5,600, including individuals, families, teachers and youth workers and corporate businesses.
rECOrd is a Local Biological Records Centre (LRC) serving Cheshire, Halton, Warrington and Wirral - 'The Cheshire region'. It provides a local facility for the storage, validation and usage of Cheshire-based biological data under the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) project. It is one of a number of local Biological Records Centres across Britain which together aim to give complete geographic coverage of the UK.
Wildlife and Countryside Link (Link) is the largest environment and wildlife coalition in England, bringing together voluntary organisations in the UK to protect wildlife, restore landscapes and the marine environment and improve access to nature.
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the largest assembly of data on the world's terrestrial and marine protected areas, containing more than 260,000 protected areas as of August 2020, with records covering 245 countries and territories throughout the world. The WDPA is a joint venture between the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Commission on Protected Areas.
Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) is the environmental record centre for Greater London. It collates information about wildlife, parks, nature reserves, gardens and other open spaces, and makes it available to partner organisations and environmental consultants through its website. Public access to the website is restricted to information not considered sensitive. GiGL works with over 50 partner organisations in London.
Biological recording is the scientific study of the distribution of living organisms, biological records describe the presence, abundance, associations and changes, both in time and space, of wildlife. There has been a long tradition of biological recording in the United Kingdom dating back to John Ray (1627–1705), Robert Plot (1640–1696) and their contemporaries.
Franklyn Hugh Perring PhD, OBE was a British naturalist, regarded as "one of the most influential botanists and nature conservationists of the 20th century".
Marsh Charitable Trust, also known as Marsh Christian Trust, is a national charity in the United Kingdom, based in London. It is a registered charity under English law, and was established in 1981 by Brian Marsh, the current Chairman. Marsh was appointed an OBE for services to business and charity in the 2005 New Year Honours.
SeaKeys is a large collaborative marine biodiversity project funded through the Foundational Biodiversity Information Program in South Africa. The purpose of the project is to collect and distribute genetic, species and ecosystem information relating to marine biodiversity in southern Africa, which may be used to support informed decision-making about the marine environment.
NBN System Key (P3240) (see uses )| Authority control databases: National |
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