100th member of the NBN Trust

Written by Sue Townsend, FSC Biodiversity Learning Manager

The Field Studies Council is proud to become the 100th member of the NBN Trust.

It took a long time to sign up!  

 

We have never been an organisation whose strength is in submitting records…instead we have been training others through our network of field centres, partner organisations and Associate Tutors.  These courses have grown in importance in the delivery of educational courses that support biological recording from a variety of perspectives; amateur natural history, environmental consultancies, schemes and societies and academic organisations.

 

We are joining the NBN Trust in the 21st Century after over 70 years of providing a huge range of training opportunities. We are coming of age in the recognition that our course provision cannot all be market led – and that there may no longer be a sustainable market in the non-educational sector.  This realisation dovetails with the Government recognition that there are a vast number of under-recorded taxa and that the Agencies may not be in a position to contribute more expertise or even fund more people to fill the gaps.  This is where our courses, tutors and attendees can help – and through submitting data through the appropriate route; be this iRECORD, the County Recorders and National Schemes or individual datasets submitted via recognised parties onto the network thus empowering more accuracy and continued data input from volunteers.

 

Figure 1. Showing how FSC is supported by external funding in the delivery of support for biological recording: Graphic © Rich Burkmar FSC.

 

The last two NBN conferences have been inspirational in helping FSC realise that the breadth of the NBN is more than just a recording database.  We realise that the FSC; with its mission statement of Environmental Understanding for All;  must increase its own profile and work with others to secure long-term training and resource development opportunities to ensure that volunteers and professionals alike are supported in sharing data.  This includes making records and developing mechanisms for exchanging information on conservation issues. NBN should surely be one of the key players and, through membership, FSC is now part of that.   Our most recent funded work; Tomorrows Biodiversity, is a 5 year programme designed to help us fill some of the gaps in the national scene and we are entering the delivery phase of this exciting project.  Through exploring novel identification resources, supporting volunteer groups and developing mechanisms to engage more people – we hope to focus on some under recorded groups e.g. Bryophytes with the British Bryological Society, Soil Mesofauna with Earthworm Society. We also hope to improve the ease of submitting records e.g. through QGIS training, the mechanisms for visualising specimens through photography and the importance of groups and societies in trialling and using new resources and technologies.   

 

We know we have a long way to go and believe that education and training are the keys to future synergy across the network.  We value the platform that the NBN gives us in promoting this and this can be seen in 3 further areas in particular:

1. The continued success of the MSc in Biological Recording and Species Identification which is run by Manchester Metropolitan University at FSC centres

2. The fabulous partnership project with the Natural History Museum and NBN Trust, Identification Trainers for the Future: Inspiring the next generation of UK wildlife experts, where apprenticeships will be supported in taxonomic and applied disciplines

3. The provision of our own Young Darwin Scholarships for 16/17yr olds where to date 45 young people have been on a residential fieldwork week supported by donations from Royal Entomological Society, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.

 

We value the support our new bronze membership will bring us in terms of partners and associates and, most importantly, being part of an expanding network to share information about wildlife.

 

Figure 2: Biodiversity Projects and Training in the FSC (Photos © Pete Boardman)

 

You can contact Sue Townsend at FSC Head Office, Montford Bridge, Shrewsbury, SY4 1HW or by email

If you are interested in becoming a member of the NBN Trust please see the information on our membership pages or contact us.

 

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