Sharing Information
Merseyside BioBank is a hub for biodiversity information in Sefton, Liverpool, Knowsley and St Helens. As a hub we collate information for a wide range of organisations and individuals. That network is critical to ongoing knowledge sharing, up-to-date information on local wildlife, quality checking of data and delivery of ‘best available information’ to inform better conservation and planning for wildlife in our area.
Without your help a lack of information can lead to a poor understanding of what we have and where it is and so undermine conservation action and research. Our partnership operates very much at the razors edge informing and delivering conservation action. Anything you can contribute will help.
How you choose data will depend on your situation. We’ve tried to cover a few typical situations below but you can always get in touch with us with any questions or for further detail.
Individuals
A great quantity of our species observations come from what we term ‘ad hoc’ observations. In the digital age these sightings are usually best shared with us (and other conservations organisations) via an online portal. We recommend iRecord.
If you use another system it may be that your observations are already being shared via ‘data flow’ between systems. If you’re unsure you can ask us.
Local Groups & Recording Projects
A large amount of the specialist species and structured monitoring data comes to us via local taxonomic groups or dedicated monitoring projects often run by organisations. Increasingly these data are already being shared centrally on systems such as iRecord. However, for such data which is not already shared that way or where there is additional information gathered (e.g. environmental data) we encourage you to share with us directly. An Excel spreadsheet is preferred.
National Recording Schemes & Projects
Large amounts of the data we hold come from national schemes. The majority of national schemes are now partners through the National Biodiversity Network or managed via the Biological Records Centre. if that is the case and you share full data via those methods then there is no need to re-submit directly to us.
However, if you collect data which is not available via iRecord or the NBN Atlas or if you do not share data using those methods then please do send directly. Again, for bulk data an Excel spreadsheet or equivalent is preferred.