The overall aim of the Fund is to develop the national network of local biological recording, increasing the geographic scope, quantity and quality of biological information available to the general public and key public sector users through the NBN Gateway.
What are the components of the Fund?
Phase 1 of the Fund, Capacity Building, ran from August 2007 to March 2008. It consisted of the implementation of two regional pilot projects, two national demonstration projects and a capital investment fund.
Phase 2 of the Fund, Implementation and Review, will run from October 2008 to March 2011. This will see the initiative extended across the whole of England through a series of regional review and implementation projects. It will also involve four national demonstration projects and a continuation of the capital investment scheme.
What were the outcomes of the pilot projects?
Phase 1 of the Fund involved pilots in the Yorkshire & Humber and West Midlands Government Regions.
In the Yorkshire and Humber region actions were identified for the development of a South Yorkshire record centre and embedding Yorkshire and Humber Environmental Data Network as the key supplier of biodiversity data in the region. The implementation projects facilitated the mobilisation of farmland bird records and the development of a common mechanism for local authorities across the region to report on local wildlife sites and hence NI 197[1].
In the West Midlands region actions were identified to demonstrate the contribution of Local Record Centres to decision making by Environment Agency’s national permitting centres, for improving the consistency of data services supplied to local authorities and to address data backlogs and support data providers in improving their data management practices.
The Fund facilitated enhancements to the Recorder software, used by the majority of Local Record Centres, to improve the efficiency of data management and hence meaning that more time could be allocated to other tasks.
A pilot was run to demonstrate whether planning applications could be automatically screened for biodiversity. Such a system would support local authorities in the delivery of their biodiversity duties and also result in more efficient use of local authority ecologists.
The capital investment scheme helped with the mobilisation of 2.6 million records onto the NBN Gateway.
Read the supporting documents
What is involved in the regional reviews and implementation projects?
The regional projects aim to enable efficient and sustainable management of the network of Local Record Centres and to address gaps in data coverage, adoption of standards and engagement with the NBN. This includes achieving full geographic coverage of biodiversity recording in England.
The regional projects consist of a review phase followed by an implementation phase. The review phase involves working with Local Record Centres in the region to understand their funding mechanism, management structures, policies and procedures. It will also involve working with local authorities and relevant regional organisations to understand their information needs and identify funding opportunities. The review will identify actions to secure sustainable funding and efficient management and to address gaps in coverage or consistency. A prioritised set of these actions will then be taken forward through regional implementation projects.
When will the regional projects run in each region?
Regional implementation projects are to first take place in the two pilot regions that have undertaken reviews. Reviews are to be scheduled across the remaining regions followed by regional implementation projects. The reviews are scheduled to start in April 2009 and will take up to 9 months to complete.
How will the regional projects be delivered?
The regional implementation projects will typically run for 12 to 18 months as single or a number of separate contracts as appropriate. The pilots showed that the regional reviews are best undertaken by independent consultants whilst ensuring that the commitment and the time of the LERC have been secured at the time of tendering. The completion of the implementation projects across all regions will be dependent on a further extension to the Fund. For each region there is an allocation for regional implementation projects. This funding should go directly to LERCs to build their capacity to provide better access to data. The projects should have practical outputs (e.g. developing processes and agreements for the regional supply of biodiversity data) and further the long term objectives of the Defra Fund. The projects should support existing activity within the region and be informed by regional stakeholders.
What are the national demonstration projects?
The purpose of the national demonstration projects is to demonstrate the tools and services available through the NBN and the costs and benefits to LERCs. This phase of the project will focus on raising the awareness of products developed during the pilot and supporting their uptake. The projects consist of:
· Recorder project – a programme to support the uptake of Recorder and address outstanding problems affecting the efficiency of data management;
· Verification tool – development of a tool to assist with automating the verification of biological data;
· Local wildlife sites reporting – development of a standard tool for managing local wildlife sites data and reporting;
· Automated planning screening – to develop and evaluate an operational system with two or more local planning authorities.
How will the Recorder project be delivered?
One of the intentions of this phase of the Defra Fund is to support the uptake of products developed in the pilot. This will include a programme to help LERCs with migrating to the latest version of the Recorder software. A support programme is to be offered to individual LERCs incorporating an initial assessment of their requirements, transfer of their existing datasets, technical support with database set-up, training and development of custom reporting. Details of the support available will be circulated to LERCs, and those expressing interest will be prioritised against a published criteria.
The project will also implement further enhancements to the Recorder software to improve the efficiency of data management. The Recorder survey has identified general areas of functionality where improvements are required. Specific enhancements will be identified following further consultation and prioritisation through the Recorder Steering Group.
How will the verification tool project be delivered?
The intention of the project is to develop a tool to assist LERCs with automating the verification and validation of biodiversity data, thus helping improve the quality of data. The tool should enable species records to be checked against a set of rules, such as the known distribution of the species or the difficulty of identification, and flag records for further checking.
The project will first involve a scoping stage to review requirements and existing tools. The tool will be developed such that it can run alongside recording applications such as Recorder. Once developed it will be trialled with and promoted to LERCs.
How will the local wildlife sites data project be delivered?[1]
During Phase 1 of the Defra Fund it was noted that a number of LERCs were looking to develop custom databases for local wildlife sites data as none of the existing packages, including Recorder, addressed this requirement. The purpose of the project is to review how LERCs currently manage local wildlife sites data and undertake development of Recorder to facilitate more effective management of such data. This may include the exchange of data with other applications including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and custom databases. The project will be delivered by undertaking a review of the outputs of the Yorkshire and Humber local wildlife sites data project and consultation with a number of LERCs. Necessary developments to Recorder will be undertaken and then promoted to LERCs as a solution for managing local wildlife sites data.
How will the planning screening project be delivered?
The objective of the project is to develop an operational version of the screening tool developed during the pilot. It is proposed that this will be hosted by Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) and developed in consultation with London boroughs and other stakeholders such as the Association of Local Government Ecologists and the Royal Town Planning Institute. The intended outcome is for the tool to be accepted by London planners and borough ecologists and used in their day-to-day work. A project officer will be employed to oversee the delivery of the project.
It is intended that the system is designed such that it may be adopted by other local authorities and other LERCs.
What is the purpose of the capital investment scheme?
The purpose of the capital investment scheme is to to increase the number of records available through the NBN Gateway by providing capital grants to improve the capacity and efficiency of data management and mobilisation, focusing on local wildlife sites data and priority species. The capital investment scheme will be extended over the period of the Defra Fund, inviting proposals against a revised criteria, including capacity building.
The scheme is scheduled to operate in each of the three years of the Fund, starting 2008/09, with individual applications typically for £1,000 to £2,000. The investment scheme is open to LERCs (or their equivalents) in England. Details of the scheme and how to apply will be sent out to Local Record Centres during December 2008.
What are the performance measures of the Fund?
The overall performance measures of the Fund are to:
- Increase use of biodiversity data by local authorities and statutory agencies;
- Produce measurable benefits for local authorities (e.g. identification of issues earlier in the planning process, assistance with delivering biodiversity duties).
The performance measures for the regional pilots are:
- The costs of implementing the proposed strategy and the additional funding that would be secured;
- the time savings that will be secured and the corresponding improvements to service delivery;
- the quantity and quality of data that would be made available through the NBN Gateway;
- geographic coverage of data collation.
Why are Defra and Natural England introducing this Fund and what effect will it have on funding for other biological recording activities?
Defra and Natural England recognise the value of LERCs, both in contributing to the overall national resource of biological information and in collating and interpreting that information for local and regional users. The Fund should contribute to the enhanced capacity of data digitisation and data flow (both ways) between LERCs and recording schemes. A greater overall resource of biological data will improve our ability to inform, implement and assess wildlife conservation policies. Collated and interpreted information will help local users, such as Local Planning Authorities, to implement their biodiversity duties. The Fund is additional money (i.e. it has not been directed away from other areas of support for biological recording). Defra, Natural England, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Environment Agency will continue with their support for existing national schemes and societies and will work together to plan ongoing support across the range of recording activities in the future.
How is the Fund managed?
The Defra Fund for Local Biodiversity Recording will provide up to £1.175 million over three years: up to £285,000 in 2008/9, £450,000 in 2009/10, and £440,000 in 2010/11.
The Fund will be managed by Natural England on behalf of Defra and will be overseen by a steering group with representatives from Defra, Natural England, Environment Agency, JNCC and the Association of Local Government Ecologists.
Within each region there will be a steering group including Natural England and Local Authority representatives and the regional biodiversity coordinator. The Fund will run from October 2008 until 31st March 2011.
[1] In the past, different local authorities have used different terminology for the same thing; for example Sites of Biological Importance (SBIs), Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCIs), Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs). Following a national review, all LAs are being encouraged to refer to these as ‘Local Wildlife Sites’.
[1] In the last 12 months or so Local Wildlife Sites have taken on even more importance because their condition and management is the subject of a new central government national indicator (NI 197) – one of 198 national indicators which will be used to measure the performance of LAs. NI 197 is one of only a handful which refers to biodiversity.