On Wednesday 29 May, the CEDaR partnership launched the NBN Atlas Northern Ireland, a new online platform that provides access to species- and site-based information from across Northern Ireland and its coastal waters.
As with the NBN Atlas, NBN Atlas Scotland, NBN Atlas Wales and NBN Atlas Isle of Man, the NBN Atlas Northern Ireland is based on the Atlas of Living Australia infrastructure. The NBN Atlas Northern Ireland is the newest addition to this suite of tools and is tailored to provide locally specific information and knowledge.
The various terrestrial, freshwater and marine datasets and the habitats data stored by CEDaR are submitted to the NBN Atlas Northern Ireland on a monthly basis. Once uploaded, they are available to view, analyse and download. The Atlas is linked to local natural history resources, such as the Habitas suite of websites, and it also provides users with information on the various ‘record submission portals’, local recording schemes, recording initiatives, events, etc.
Launch event
The launch event, at Ulster Museum, Belfast, allowed the CEDaR partnership to demonstrate the capabilities of this exciting new website and was attended by key stakeholders and members of the wider environmental recording community. The guest speakers for the evening were Mr William Blair (Director of Collections, National Museums NI), Mr Richard Gray (Head of Biodiversity & Conservation Science Unit, Northern Ireland Environment Agency) and Dr Jo Judge, (Chief Executive Officer, NBN). All provided context for the Atlas, and its strategic potential for contributing to environmental management and monitoring and ultimately the protection of sites and habitats throughout Northern Ireland and its coastal waters. The speeches were followed by a live demonstration of the website, which is now available to view on CEDaR’s new You Tube channel and can be seen below.
The full news story and images can be found on CEDaR’s website