SBIF Workshop Report: Biological recording and the SBIF recommendations
29th September 2020. Virtual workshop via Zoom
Facilitators: Claire Lacey (CIEEM) & Rachel Tierney (SBIF)

Summary

The SBIF Review previously identified 10 benefits to improving our biological recording infrastructure (set out in a Benefits Dependency Network on page 77 of the SBIF Review).
12 attendees contributed to the workshop and identified the key benefits to be:

• Benefit 2: All data are of known quality, quickly and openly available and easily accessed through a single central data repository
• Benefit 6: Organisations that provide or govern key parts of the infrastructure as a public service have sufficient funding and resources to do so effectively.
• Benefit 7: Out skills base is increased with more people engaged in biological recording, more records being collected and verified and few taxonomic gaps overall

There was support for the proposed SBIF Review start up project which aims to provide consistent biodiversity data services across Scotland via the network of existing Local Environmental Record Centres and supported by a National Hub to provide a common, overarching profile for LERCs in Scotland and liaison with the NBN Trust as the lead UK biodiversity data governance body.