The National Biodiversity Network Trust was set up as an independent charity in 2000, to oversee and facilitate the development of the Network.

So, during 2020, we celebrated our 20th anniversary!

Remembering our past

As we turned 20, we felt it was timely to look back at the history and development of the NBN and NBN Trust, the detail of which could easily be forgotten. We are therefore delighted that we were able to celebrate with an article published in The Linnean Society’s Newsletter, The Linnean, in November.

Takes you to The Linnean Newsletter

Read the NBN Trust article on pages 9 – 17

This is the final version of the article that was accepted by The Linnean Society of London for publication in The Linnean, Volume 36, Number 2, November 2020.

20 in 2020 Infographic

Take a look at our history and what we’ve achieved with some key stats and milestones shown below:

Infographic courtesy of willbovill.com

‘Top 20’ wildlife datasets

As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations during 2020, we highlighted the 20 most popular datasets on the NBN Atlas. This ‘top 20’ was an objective measure of the most downloaded wildlife datasets – taking into account the length of time the dataset has been on the NBN Atlas.

So, these are the 20 datasets that you have found interesting enough to download most frequently either for your work or for your personal use.

During the NBN Trust’s 20th anniversary year we have looked at these ‘top 20’ favourite NBN Atlas wildlife datasets in turn:

Bees, wasps and ants

We started with the 162,526 UK-wide records of bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) from iRecord.

National Trust species records

Another of the ‘top 20’ most downloaded datasets was the 595,069 records from National Trust properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Coleoptera without a dedicated recording scheme

We continued with the?4,991 UK-wide records of Coleoptera from iRecord for families not covered by a recording scheme.??

Non-sensitive species from South East Wales 

Another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets was the?272,770 records of non-sensitive species from Natural Resources Wales.?? 

Birds (BTO and partners) to 2005

The 21,456,706 records of birds from BTO and Partners to 2005 were also one of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets.

National Mammal Atlas Project, online recording 

Another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets was the 173,044 records from the National Mammal Atlas Project, online recording.

Non-avian taxa (BTO and partners)

We continued with the 1,730,509 records of non-avian taxa from the BTO and partners.

Mammal records from Britain from the Atlas of Mammals (1993), with some subsequent records

Another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets was the 133,650 mammal records from the Atlas of Mammals in Britain (1993), with some subsequent records. 

Welsh Invertebrate Database (WID) 

We continued with the 590,309 records from Natural Resources Wales’ Welsh Invertebrate Database (WID).

Tullie House Museum Natural History Collections

Another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets are the 59,328 records from Tullie House Museum Natural History Collections.

Bryophyte records via iRecord

The 38,272 Bryophyte records via iRecord are another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets – and these have only been hosted on the NBN Atlas since January 2020. 

ERIC NE Combined dataset to 2017

Another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets are the 981,657 records from ERIC NE Combined dataset to 2017.

Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service (SBIS) Dataset

We continued with the 2,572,900 records from the Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service (SBIS) Dataset. 

Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service (NBIS) Records to December 2016

The 1,714,863 records to December 2016 from Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service (NBIS) are another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets.

Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR) Online Recording

Another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets are the 106,822 records from Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR) Online Recording.

Record Pool

The 30,922 records from Record Pool are another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets from the NBN Atlas.

Miscellaneous records held by Biodiversity Information Services (BIS) 

Another of the final four of the “top 20” most downloaded NBN Atlas datasets, comprises the 182,396 miscellaneous records from Biodiversity Information Service (BIS) for Powys and Brecon Beacons National Park.

Lancashire Environment Record Network (LERN)

The 1,417,675 records from Lancashire Environment Record Network (LERN) are another of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets.

Miscellaneous records held on the Cofnod (North Wales Environmental Records Centre) database

The penultimate “top 20” most downloaded dataset contains the 724,163 miscellaneous records held on the Cofnod (North Wales Environmental Information Service) database.

Bryophyte data for Great Britain from the British Bryological Society held by BRC: Atlas 2014 

The 2,785,010 records from the British Bryological Society held by the Biological Records Centre (BRC) are the last of the “top 20” most downloaded datasets from the NBN Atlas.