The Deloitte team of economists applied multiple analytical methods to produce this estimate, comparing and combining the results to quantify the total economic impact created by investments in GBIF. While some approaches used narrowly defined calculations to capture direct user benefits from different services, other measures explored the value that wider society accrues from indirect benefits reliant on GBIF’s network, infrastructure and services. The report puts the annual value of GBIF to users at €48 million on a total investment of €15 million (roughly €5 million globally and €10 million at national scale), while indirect benefits to society may reach €185 million per year.

Other key findings from the report include:

• GBIF expands the scope of what is possible. Almost half (47 per cent) of all data users surveyed by Deloitte reported that they would have found it impossible to achieve their research in the absence of GBIF.
• “The most substantial and quantifiable benefit of GBIF” is an average estimated time saving of 64 hours per user over finding data through alternative sources.
• Nearly all users (92 per cent) linked their use of GBIF-mediated data to advancing contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“Our study confirmed that the value of GBIF’s network is far greater than the sum of its parts,” said Josh Appleton-Miles of Deloitte Access Economics. “Aggregating and standardizing biodiversity data across national boundaries and making it openly accessible provides a much larger economic dividend.”

The final report also outlines a method that GBIF nodes can apply to prepare national-scale estimates of the value of time saved in research costs thanks to data access. While this measure represents just one of many elements contributing to the analysis, the potential for using it at national scale responds directly to feedback from GBIF participants following their review of the report’s first draft at the 29th meeting of the GBIF Governing Board (GB29). Secretariat staff expect to work with node managers and staff put the method into practice in Canberra at the Global Nodes Meeting, just ahead of GB30 in October 2023.

The report echoes findings in other recent broad-scale analyses of GBIF. The Twenty-Year Review of GBIF prepared by the Committee on Data of the International Science Council (CODATA) recommended commissioning “a targeted study on the monetary value of sharing biodiversity data and of the added value that data infrastructures provide to it.” The following year, a comprehensive review of more than 4,000 peer-reviewed studies that relied on GBIF-mediated data concluded that “globally integrated biodiversity datasets enabled researchers to ask questions at taxonomic, temporal, and spatial scales that would otherwise be impossible.”

The report provides another first: a calculation of the monetary value of volunteers’ service to the GBIF network. Despite capturing only a limited number of the roles in which individuals act as unpaid trainers, translators and reviewers, the estimates puts the annual value of their efforts at €958,000—around one fifth of the Secretariat’s average annual budget. These voluntary contributions of time have proven difficult to capture, as staff from GBIF participant nodes and partner organizations often have not charged or recorded it.

Direct cost savings flow the other way as well. The report reveals examples of direct institutional cost savings attributable to GBIF for its nodes and data publishers. The Natural History Museum, London, estimates that GBIF saves the United Kingdom more than €500,000 by avoiding the cost of employing ten duplicative positions. Meanwhile, access to GBIF’s digital infrastructure lowers both wage and capital costs for the U.S. Geological Survey—home of the GBIF United States node—by nearly €200,000 per year.

In light of the current report’s limitations and expected changes in GBIF’s impact over time, the report concludes with potential data needs and alternative approaches for further studies into its scientific and societal value.

• Expanded metrics on direct impacts that build on this report’s survey of national nodes
• Thematic analyses of high-impact research areas for GBIF’s flow from data to knowledge, like human health (see recent analysis on GBIF support of research on wild organisms and human diseases)
• Deduplication value that quantifies the reallocation of time from gathering data from other sources to more productive research
  Analysis of the value of data standardization, which “is difficult to quantify, but could be in the order of billions of euros”.

The post Deloitte report reveals huge return on investments in GBIF appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

We all know that establishing a new habit takes time, discipline, and sustained repetition. As summer drifted into autumn, I noticed that my new hobby – recording and sharing wildlife sightings to create data for nature conservation – had not yet become a habit. While I’m enjoying taking and uploading impromptu snaps of wildlife when the mood strikes me, my activity is pretty sporadic. I try to reassure myself that any new wildlife data is better than none – which is, of course, true – but if I’m honest I’d anticipated that, by this time in the year, I’d be doing more. Yes, I’m juggling a busy job and family life, but that’s not going to change any time soon. I need to get better at making room in my life to embed recording as a lifelong habit.

Rather than beat myself up about it, I decided to seek further inspiration and learning. First, I took part in an online course on Wading Bird Identification presented by Ben Darvill and Steve Willis of the British Trust for Ornithology. I’m fortunate to live close to the Ythan (rhymes with ‘python’) Estuary, an internationally important wetland site, but my wader ID skills are very poor. I can manage Oystercatchers and Curlews – and if I ever bumped into an Avocet I’d know what to call it – but beyond that it’s all a blur of long legs, thin beaks and assorted shades of brown and grey. This was a terrific opportunity to upskill and give me an extra reason (though I shouldn’t need one) to enjoy frequent coastal walks.

The course did an excellent job of demystifying waders and giving lots of handy ID tips. Rather than being too distracted by plumage, for example, which can be misleading, you should focus first on the structure of the bird (size, shape, relative proportions) and become very familiar with a few ‘reference species’ that you can then use for comparison (“It’s bigger than a Dunlin but smaller than a Redshank”). Drawing mini ‘caricatures’ to help distinguish similar species is also really helpful. Most memorable of all, though, I learned a mind-blowing new fact: that waders’ long slender beaks are flexible, and the tip is under muscular control – they can bend and wiggle their beaks at will!

Next up was a free Freshwater Invertebrates session run by Suzanne Burgess at Buglife. This was a practical, hands-on workshop aiming to recruit and gear-up volunteers to take part in regular river surveys. We learned how to take water samples and identify invertebrates into basic groups. It was great fun, and I came away inspired to get more involved in structured recording projects. I might even ‘adopt’ my own riverside survey location as part of the Riverfly Partnership.

These two courses were a timely reminder that I’m not doing this alone. There are local and national communities of wildlife recorders and trainers who we can all look to for inspiration, learning, and sometimes company too. I’m still a beginner, and it’s not yet habitual, but my recording adventure continues.

The post Rebooted – rediscovering wildlife recording #7 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, since their launch in 2017, the grants have helped nearly 2,500 schools across England, Scotland and Wales to improve their outdoor learning provision. The grants have enabled thousands more children to profit from time in nature.

In 2021, 625 grants were awarded, more than any previous year. For the first time, early year settings were also able to apply alongside primary schools for £500 of outdoor learning equipment and dedicated staff training.

Throughout 2021, expert trainers traveled across England, Scotland and Wales to deliver 1,250 hours of free staff training to more than 5,600 teachers, educators and support staff. It is estimated that around 150,000 children will benefit from improved outdoor learning provision as a result of 2021’s Local School Nature Grants.

Unfortunately, the scheme couldn’t help every school that applied, as a phenomenal 6,654 schools and early year settings applied for grants last year! However, thanks to generous funding from the People’s Postcode Trusts a further 275 grants will be available this year. This means the scheme will help 900 schools and early years settings across England, Scotland and Wales in 2022.

Applications for Round One will open on 22 March 2022.

The post Local School Nature Grants appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

The training will be a mixture of classroom-based and field exercises and is led by experienced and licenced trainers.

The course is suitable for those involved in conservation work, habitat management, woodland and estate managers, ecologists, utility clearance companies as well as those whose work may bring them into contact with this protected species, such as tree surgeons and those working towards obtaining their great crested newt licence.

The course costs £125 inclusive of all training, tea/coffee cake and lunch.

This is a fully certificated course.

Places are limited so please complete a registration form to book.

For further information please visit www.anglianecology.co.uk

The post Anglian Ecology Great Crested Newt Surveying – Training day appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

These two individuals have made valuable contributions whilst working apart, but their collaboration over twenty plus years has been enormously important for the wider NBN in many ways.

They have both been members of the Linnean Society’s Taxonomy & Systematics Committee for many years and have helped to maintain the Linnean Society’s early interest in biological recording. This dates back to their giving a presentation on the importance of the biological recording pyramid, with very few individuals progressing from the simplest levels of casual recording through to the level of county or national recorder and the implications this had for recording schemes and societies (and local records centres) as well as for mentoring and training.

The collaboration, steered by them, between the Field Studies Council and the University of Birmingham (and, latterly, Manchester Metropolitan University) has resulted in hundreds of students passing through Certificate, Diploma and Masters courses in biological recording. This has benefited volunteer recorders, professional surveyors, conservationists, consultants and local authority staff (to identify just a few) and those with whom they work, raising standards and helping to promote the value of and need for biological recording much more widely. Beyond that there are particular individuals who have passed through their hands who have had their own impact.

The module-based recording courses have undoubtedly encouraged the adoption of similar courses elsewhere and a further testament to their value has been the extent to which key individuals across the recording spectrum have been willing to present lectures on different topics. Additionally, it has provided taxonomic experts with the opportunity to tutor willing recorders from across the country and the need to ‘train the trainers’ has been an initiative which these two have pursued with vigour.

The 2018 Joint NBN Trust Honorary Membership goes to Dr Sarah Whild and Sue Townsend.

Dr Sarah Whild

Sarah has been a leading light within the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland for many years and has been tireless in her efforts to foster support for education and training, also (successfully) arguing that the National Forum for Biological Recording introduce a student membership fee (which has helped boost Forum member numbers). Of course, she was also one of the lead authors on the excellent Flora for Shropshire (and completed her PhD somewhere along the way too).

Sue Townsend

After long service as Head of Centre at Preston Montford, which also included setting up the first grant-funded projects to help fill not only gaps in invertebrate recording but gaps in expertise (and having by this time completed the Recording MSc herself), Sue persuaded the Field Studies Council to give her a new role as Head of Biodiversity. The most obvious result has been a series of major grant-aided projects, following on from Invertebrate Challenge: Tomorrow’s Biodiversity and, most recently, Biolinks which will have huge impacts across London and the West Midlands. Sue (and thus the FSC) has also supported other initiatives including the Natural History Museum’s ID Trainers. Moreover, she has also managed to influence the extent to which the FSC supports and engages with biological recording at and around its residential centres.

Sue and Sarah’s positive influence continues with this year’s successful NFBR Conference, focussing on skills training being run jointly with the MMU and FSC. It also seems set to continue in diverse ways into the future.

Together Sarah and Sue have done so much to benefit UK wildlife recording much of which has been a direct result of their collaboration and what that has led to.

The post Joint NBN Trust Honorary Membership 2018 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

• NBN Atlas revisions to Terms of Use and Guidance for Using Data
• Identification Trainers for the Future: The Final Blog
• NFBR Conference: 10-12 May – last chance to book!
• SBIF Review: latest update just published
• NBN Atlas Scotland Stakeholder Engagement Day
• NBN Atlas Wales Stakeholder Engagement Day
• Opening up data
• The Weather Lottery
• Thank you for giving
• Submit Cuckoo Records Online
• Launch of UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships scheme
• Job vacancies at Natural Resources Wales
• National Water Vole Monitoring Programme
• Wood Pasture and Parkland Network
• Call for abstracts YOUMARES9

The post Network News May 2018 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

There has never been a greater need to document, monitor and understand changes in the UK’s wildlife, yet the number of people with the skills to survey and accurately identify species, handle and preserve reference specimens, and share their knowledge with others is declining. Wildlife identification and recording skills have been identified as a critical and growing skills gap in the UK Natural Heritage Sector; The IDTFF partnership project was developed in order to help address this skills gap.

The delivery phase of the IDTFF project ran from March 2015, with the Musuem sadly saying goodbye to the final cohort of trainees in March 2018.

The project successfully provided 15 individuals with a subsidised work-based training placement, each of which ran for 12 months in duration. Placements were phased across three years, with a cohort of five trainees taken on each year.

For the duration of their placements, trainees were based in the NHM’s Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity (AMC); the AMC is a hub for UK natural history study, engagement and outreach, including through the NHM’s citizen science programme. Although based in the AMC, throughout the 12 month programme trainees carried out placements elsewhere within the NHM, including with curation teams and the learning engagement team. Trainees also carried out placements with the FSC at various field centres across the country.

Over the course of the 12 month programme each trainee received training in 4 main areas:

1) Species identification and biological recording skills

2) Collections care and curatorial skills

3) Public engagement and communication skills

4) Skills Transfer and training delivery

For specific information regarding the trainee’s time on these placements please see the NBN ID Trainers Blog Archive. These blogs document all three cohorts time throughout the project and provide first-hand accounts of their experiences.

Alongside their placements, throughout the project, trainees also developed a wide range of freely available UK biodiversity identification resources aimed to support wildlife identification and recording skills. Links to these resources are available on the ID Trainers Website and cover a diverse range of topics from a guide to common families of Coleoptera in the British Isles to a key to a multi-access key to the common families of British grasses. We will be updating the website shortly with new resources created by cohorts two and three; watch this space for exciting additions including a Multi-access Key to UK Ephemeroptera and a documentary on temperate rainforests in the UK.

The IDTFF project has been hugely successful; all fifteen trainees completed the programme and have either gone on to employment in the Natural History Sector or are on the path to further education. Trainees have gone on to work for notable organisations including: the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Plantlife, Earthwatch Institute, Natural England and a number of trainees have taken on positions back at the NHM (myself included!).

On June 1^st  2018 to formally bring the IDTFF project to a close, the NHM will be holding a symposium which will discuss highlights and outcomes of the ID Trainers programme, the importance of inspiring future generations in identification and recording, and the future of training within the Angela Marmont Centre and beyond. We have a great selection of speakers confirmed for the day and it’s looking to be a fantastic event.

A further legacy of the project is that Steph West, previous Project Manager of the ID Trainers programme, has been employed on a permanent basis in the AMC as the Biodiversity Training Manager; in this new role, Steph will be using the successes and lessons learnt from the IDTFF project to develop further training opportunities in the NHM. So, watch this space for exciting new training opportunities centred on UK Biodiversity; these will be advertised on the AMC website and on the NHM UK Biodiversity Twitter feed @NHM_ID.

So that’s all from the IDTTF project for now, but do keep an eye out for updated resources and future training opportunities. I can honestly say it’s been a complete pleasure being part of this project, firstly as a trainee and now as a project officer. Although it is sad to see the end of this project, I am excited for the future of training opportunities in the AMC and with Steph at the helm I have no doubt it is sure to be a huge success!

One final thank you must be given to the NBN, FSC and HLF for their continued support, without which this project could not have been such a success!

Written by Nicola Lowndes, Natural History Museum and previous ID Trainer for the Future

The post Identification Trainers for the Future: The Final Blog appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

• NBN Atlas – one year on
• Professor RJ (Sam) Berry
• NBN Stakeholder Group – call for volunteers
• Isle of Man joins the ‘family’ of NBN Atlases
• Marine Recording: discovering shoreline and underwater biodiversity
• ID Trainers – final blog
• A Tale of Three Cities
• Veolia Environmental Trust funding
• 2018 GBIF Young Researchers Award – call for nominations
• Enter the BIG Biodiversity Challenge 2018!
• Establishing a UK Pollinator Monitoring and Research Partnership
• Local Wildlife Sites Officer – Sussex Wildlife Trust
• I-Spy, with my mammal eye…
• Bottlenose dolphin numbers – Scottish update
• NERC funded project – ‘Opening up science for all’

The post Network News April 2018 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

During this month we took up placements with the Learning Volunteer and Science Educator teams. This large chunk of Phase Four of the traineeship built upon skills developed during the Education and Training Award (EAT) course we completed in November 2017, and expanded our earlier experiences gained during engagement events, such as Tring BiolBlitz back in June 2017. The placements were varied and provided a thorough overview of the work conducted by these teams. Whilst based with the Learning Volunteer team we saw the benefits provided by the volunteers as they engaged museum visitors. In addition, we designed and delivered enrichment sessions for the Learning Volunteers. These sessions enabled us to enthuse about our favoured groups of organisms and put in practice the goal of passing on the skills we’ve gained at the museum, as well as championing the Angela Marmont Centre (AMC) as a space for all who are interested in UK biodiversity. Our time with the Science Educators opened our eyes to the fantastic work the museum does in providing excellent educational experiences and sessions for schools, families, and other members of the public. Working during the Family Festival over the February half-term allowed us to engage with a vast number of visitors to the museum, helping to build our confidence in so doing and, hopefully, enriching their time at the museum.

February has also seen ID Trainers represent the programme at various events. April delivered the closing talk at the British Ecological Society’s Undergraduate Careers Conference. Steph spread the word about the joys of ‘squishy beetles’ as she spoke about the UK Solider Beetles recording scheme she co-runs. And Matt took specimens from AMC’s reference and teaching collection up to Preston Montford Field Studies Council centre for a Dipterist’s Forum workshop.

Additionally, all of us trainees have been putting in the hours and making progress on our Final Projects. Laura’s working on family level key to Mayflies, Steph will be delivering a workshop on the identification of Cantharidae, April’s putting together a beginners guide to lichen identification, and Matt’s writing up his expedition to the Gower during which he led some undergraduate students in a hunt for Sciomyzidae and other Diptera. I’m making a short documentary film focussing on Atlantic oceanic woodlands and some of their frequently overlooked flora. The UK punches well above its weight in terms of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts), and the Atlantic woodland habitats (these temperate rainforests) are the apogee. I’ll also be presenting a Nature Live show at the museum on this topic at 15.00 on Friday 13 April. If anyone is free please do come along; if you’re not free, cancel your previous engagement and come along anyway.

Now, in our final week, we pause to acknowledge on our incalculable luck in having been given the opportunity to undertake this traineeship and reflect on the hard work we’ve put in over the past year. The range of training we’ve received from experts has been broad and inspirational. We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us during our time at the museum. Further, we offer profuse gratitude to the partners in the traineeship (the National Biodiversity Network and the Field Studies Council) and, of course, to the funders at Heritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the Future programme.

Written by Alex Mills – ID Trainer for the Future

The post ID Trainers – final blog appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

• SBIF Review: workshop on Funding Options
• NBN Sensitive Species Policy
• NBN Atlas helps in the discovery of a species new to the UK
• Small grants for voluntary recording work
• Bursaries to study wildlife in Scotland
• New Office Administrator joins the team
• NBN Conference feedback
• NBN Conference workshops
• ID Trainers’ December update
• CEH funded PhD studentships
• New blogs on NBN website

The post Network News January 2018 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.