The Better Biodiversity Data Project, is currently pending final funding approval from the Scottish Government. We hope that a formal announcement of the initiation of this project will take place early in 2022. 

Happy New Year to you from all at SBIF.

The image is of a Shetland Bumblebee on Kidney Vetch (the ginger race of the Moss Carder Bee  found in the Western and Northern Isles) on the Mainland (of Shetland)

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In 2020 BRC developed the Targeting Revisits Map for Grasshoppers and bushcrickets. In 2021 they updated the selection to include Targeting Revisits Maps for Craneflies, Ground beetles and Soldierflies.

This strategic look at the data that is held and how its value can be maximised is a really interesting development and can guide those keen to make their biological recording as valuable as possible. To find out more have a look here.

PS. I know that there are no Stag Beetles in Scotland (yet…) but I couldn’t resist using the picture. Beetles are indeed brilliant!

You can also read a longer article on this project in the main NBN News section.

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“Biodiversity Goal: Research on the function, services, and resilience of ecosystems, on valuing and accessing nature, and on biodiversity management will help to deliver our aspirations for biodiversity conservation and associated national and international targets. Whilst the specific goals are yet to be agreed, Scotland is committed to playing our part in international efforts to safeguard biodiversity.”

“To achieve this we aim to… Develop techniques and results that are internationally applicable, allowing us to be good global citizens. The Edinburgh Declaration gives a special impetus, as does the implementation of elements of the Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum recommendations by building capacity of local record centres and new ways of gathering and sharing data.”

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The UK Government’s Geospatial Commission published an independent report from eftec (Economics for the Environment) who specialise in environmental economics.  The idea for the report came from a request from across UK government departments to look into data issues surrounding species data (as a component of biodiversity data), as a key factor determining the allocation of land and land-use decisions where some wider data improvement work is being conducted. Although the eftec report is focused on England, it draws heavily on similar excellent work done in Scotland with the 2018 Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum (SBIF) review and covers the processes in the species data pathway and explores the uses of biodiversity data.

“The report makes 14 recommendations to improve the species data landscape and many of these are focussed on the FAIR data principles that the UK Geospatial Strategy is supporting. This report argues that the costs of collecting species data are strongly outweighed by the benefits from use, estimating that for every pound spent, benefits of £14 to £28 are realised. The report notes that key benefits of improving this data could include achieving water industry and agri-environment objectives and avoiding delays in the land use planning system. The species data pathway has direct benefits that arise to those that collect and use the data (e.g., physical health and well-being), as well as indirect benefits through time savings by those that interact with data collectors and users.”

SBIF is looking on with interest as to what the proposals to deliver the recommendations in England will look like and how the key benefits identified by the report will be delivered. The SBIF Working Group looks forward to learning from the innovative solutions that will come from this work.

The post Trailblazing in Scotland! appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

Since my blog in January, I have organised a meeting with some Scottish LERCs looking at the requirements for a National Database, convened a joint meeting with Welsh and Scottish LERCs looking at the data management and public interface systems they use and supported the development of the Scottish Marine Biodiversity Data Review that has just started (its findings will be published in the New Year). The working group are all beavering away to push the Better Biodiversity Data Project over the line and into delivery and remain extremely optimistic that this is around the corner.

I was lucky enough to be up on Shetland last week and it was glorious. Just like down in the Highlands Spring has been pretty late, with few Shetland Bumblebees or Large White Butterflies about but the warm weather up there (15 degrees!) is speeding everything up. I attach a picture of Yell Sound, just to prove how good the weather was.

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From the report’s Executive Summary, “We have in this report identified a range of steps that might be taken to improve upon this indicator. Some are far-reaching changes to the structure of biodiversity recording, such as those recommended by the Scottish Biodiversity Information Forum (SBIF) review (Wilson et al. 2018) to lead to a much improved system for biodiversity data collection, collation, curation and use in Scotland: if implemented this would lead to many improvements in data availability.”

From paragraph 178 of the report, “As well as the need to nurture the recording and monitoring community, there is a clear case for the transformation of existing infrastructure for biological recording to improve data flows and thereby ensure data collected becomes available for use, and thus encourages increased recording. Our consultation with data stakeholders, who are essential for the successful continuation of the proposed indicator, identified the implementation of the findings of A Review of the Biological Recording Infrastructure in Scotland (Wilson et al. 2018) as the key step in securing a step change in data availability in Scotland. This would not only secure the data required for the indicator proposed in this report, but enable substantial improvements in future iterations.”

This indicates the high esteem that the SBIF Review and its Recommendations are held in.

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As you may have noticed, it has been a while since our last blog post. It is because we have all been very busy! Rachel Tierney, our Development Officer, gave birth to a healthy baby boy in early January. This small matter (!) did not get in the way of the submission of our new funding application to NatureScot (SNH’s new name). The proposal was submitted before the Christmas break, just before Rachel went on maternity leave. Rachel and Gill Dowse did a power of work to get it over the line, I did my bit too. 

Who is this I? Jonathan Willet, the new Development Officer. I started in early November, courtesy of funding from NatureScot who extend the Development Officer post until March.  The main reason for the post’s extension was to provide continuity in dealing with funders and partners. As well as undertaking future planning so that the new project can start in April (funding permitting).  

I don’t come into the role of SBIF Development Officer cold. My involvement with biological recording in Scotland streches back over 20 years and with SBIF since its very beginning. In recent years I have taken a bit of a step back from this due to working full-time as a tourist guide, but it hasn’t taken me long to get back up to speed. 

Project Proposal

The new project proposal we submitted in December was a reaction to the failure of the full SBIF Infrastructure project to secure funding. An ask of £15million over 5 years from our sector was exceptional in addition to coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant projects not addressing the pandemic were not a priority for Scottish Government funding. However, there was enough interest in the proposal to encourage SBIF to submit a more targeted project addressing the highest priority actions. Namely, ensuring the continuity and accessibility of the Scottish LERC and recording group data.  

We still believe that the full Infrastructure is the way forward, but it may take a series of steps to see it fully realised. The new project that I have mentioned will be delivered over two years. It seeks to deliver three key actions by its completion;  

1. To facilitate the closer working of the LERCs and Recording Groups in Scotland and the signing of formal agreement to do this.
2. To create a single species record database for Scotland’s LERCs and manage a phased transition from regional databases to this. By doing so we will secure the long-term future and accessibility of databases whose long-term future is uncertain.
3. To provider a single, standardised data product that is available nationally to aid land management decision making.

Sustainability

Another change in the focus of this project is that it would seek to generate new income from supplying this data product. This would allow the project to start to cover its operating costs. However, one principle of the project is to not impinge on the current income streams of the existing LERCs in Scotland.  

We believe that there is a legal requirement for better utilisation (or just utilisation) of biodiversity data by public and private bodies. If you have seen the Position Statement on National Planning Framework 4 you will know that it has an enormous, tacit requirement for a great deal of specific biological data products to make sure it is delivered. There are untapped income streams, available nationally and locally, for supplying these products. 

With that note of optimism, I shall end the blog. We should hear about the outcome of our funding bid in February. I will keep you posted on our progress. The future beckons with the promise of exciting times ahead. 

The post SBIF Project Progress and Development Officer Developments  appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

In the Environment Secretary’s speech on the 20th July, George Eustice set out his vision for a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.  During this speech he questioned our ability to access “an accurate, centralised body of data on species populations”.  He asked, “is there sufficient access to data and knowledge to know which species should be assessed?” and stressed that “if we can improve the baseline understanding of habitats and species abundance across the country in every planning authority, then we can make better decisions towards achieving our vision…” 

The collective work of the SBIF Review feels more relevant than ever before.  We have a vision and a route map to transform our biological recording infrastructure to secure a sustainable future for the many organisations that make up our unique, and invaluable network, ensuring species and habitat data are at the heart of all environmental decision making and inspiring a new generation of individuals to connect with, and care for our nature world. 

Over the last few months, we have been working behind the scenes to progress the SBIF Review recommendations, aided by additional SNH funding (thank you SNH!) for the SBIF Development Officer for a further six months this year.  With this focused capacity we are beginning to regroup with SNH and the Scottish Local Record Centre community to explore how we can align the services offered with those required by SNH to deliver their statutory duties.   

We have also been supporting the Cabinet Office’s Geospatial Commission to develop a project to undertake a similar review of the biological recording landscape and needs in England.  This project will explore whether the recommendations for Scotland can be applied in England as well and if not, what the recommendations for England should be instead.   

Over the coming months we will keep you in the loop as we endeavour to make the most difference for the SBIF Community where we can.  We will focus on facilitating the development phase that we need to get started – primarily through securing the resources necessary to take this forward.   If you can offer either in-kind contributions or funding do contact Rachel Tierney in the first instance. 

You can read more about our recent progress in our latest highlight report

The post SBIF Review update appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

This Proposal is the culmination of all of the work undertaken by the SBIF community in response to Public Petition PE1229.

It set outs how the Review Recommendations can be implemented, detailing six projects to be delivered by 2025.  If undertaken, these projects would transform our biological recording infrastructure and crucially, identify and implement a longer-term mechanism for sustainable funding.

The first project is focussed on the necessary feasibility studies and project development.  This sets the foundations for the next project to establish the National and Regional Hubs.  A further project then develops a shared technical road map and invests in our Super Partners who provide invaluable Infrastructure support and services across Scotland.  The newly established National and Regional Hubs will then have capacity to undertake three projects to facilitate improved data flows, develop value-added services, and build capacity with recording groups and community groups to maximise engagement and participation.

We would like to thank everyone who has continued to support the SBIF vision, advocating for the Recommendations of the Review throughout your networks and giving us the momentum to keep driving this Programme forward.

We will now wait for a response from Scottish Government to our Proposal and will continue to work closely with SNH as we move forward.

In the meantime, we wish you a very merry festive break, and hope you find plenty of time to get out and do a spot of recording.  A quick look on the NBN Atlas Scotland shows lots of 10km squares with no records at all from Christmas Day…what better excuse to walk off your Christmas dinner and get some fresh air!

Can you help fill in some record gaps on 25^th December?

Source: NBN Atlas Scotland. Accessed 11:30 19/12/2019

The post Investing in Nature – celebrating another SBIF milestone appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

Following Scotland’s call for a sustainable biodiversity data network, great energy went into working with stakeholders across Scotland to understand our recording landscape to co-create a compelling vision for the future.

It was therefore, a great honour to receive the CIEEM Best Practice Award for Stakeholder Engagement, on behalf of the SBIF Community at the 2019 CIEEM Awards last week.

We should take this opportunity to celebrate how far the SBIF Review has come in the last three years.  Together we have the energy, commitment and vision to revolutionise the way Scotland collects, manages, shares and uses biological data.  This Award celebrates the community spirit behind the Review, and recognition through this accolade will help us gain momentum as we move towards developing a implementation plan and securing resources.

Thanks to everyone for your support, we look forward to continuing to work with you over the coming months and years.

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