Why do we need Local Record Centres?

Currently, a large number of different organisations and individuals hold information about wildlife habitats and species (biological records) within the county. The fragmentary nature of this data makes it very difficult and time-consuming to find out all information about a particular area or species. Consider the scenario where a rare bird is breeding at a particular site and only one person knows this. If that site is under threat and the knowledge is not passed on, the bird is at risk. It makes more sense for all biological records to be held at one location as this allows earlier identification and protection of endangered species/habitats, and for planning decisions to be based on more accurate, up-to-date information about the local environment.

The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) aims to develop a distributed national store of biological information. Cheshire has been chosen as the English pilot location for this national project. Similar projects are also being carried out in Scotland and Wales. The aim of the pilot Local Record Centres is for them to be locally co-ordinated repositories for biological records and to feed into the National Biodiversity Network (NBN). (See the NBN web-site for details: www.nbn.org.uk ).

Although there are already over 100 independently developed Local Record Centres in the UK, these range from small projects run by volunteers, to 8 major projects that maintain large databases and employ several staff. The aim of the pilot Local Record Centres is to set the standards for establishing effective centres, managed and run by co-operation between local organisations and individuals, throughout the UK.

What is RECORD?

RECORD is the Local Record Centre for the Cheshire region. Cheshire was chosen as the English pilot record centre in August 1997, and a lot of time was spent in the initialisation of RECORD; defining the needs of the LRC and the local people.

However, the establishment phase of the project is now completed. In October 2000 the RECORD manager was appointed and started to develop a working record centre. RECORD now has 2 full-time members of staff plus a full-time volunteer and a couple of part-time contract staff employed on projects. The organisation is housed within Chester Zoo. RECORD is always ready to receive your biological records.

How does RECORD work?

RECORD aims to collate all terrestrial, freshwater and marine records, from Cheshire, Halton, Warrington, the Wirral, and the old Vice-County boundary covering most of Trafford, Stockport and Tameside. Wildlife organisations will provide much of the biological information, but the majority will be supplied by individual members of the public, especially naturalists and recorders, ensuring a community-based project in which everyone can be involved.

RECORD will hold data for species, habitats and sites. All the different data can then be integrated to give a more accurate view of wildlife in Cheshire. RECORD will ensure the information provided is reliable, accurate and validated. Most data that will be supplied by RECORD (e.g. for county reports or passed onto organisations), will be in the form of aggregated data (e.g. species counts) as many biological records are sensitive/confidential (e.g. the location of badger sets).

RECORD currently holds almost 1 million records and expects this to expand even further over the next 12-month period. However, we urgently need your help to increase the number and particularly the diversity of biological records. If you see any wild animals or plants in your area please do get in touch with us: 01244 383749 or [email protected] .

How can I get involved with RECORD?

Anyone can start doing biological recording. You do not have to be an expert; enthusiastic amateurs have a very important part to play. Why not start by making a diary of animals you see in your garden or local park? If this heightens your interest then why not join one of the many local recording groups in the Cheshire region. New members are always welcome and there are often good training opportunities available. The Cheshire Wildlife Trust or RECORD will be able to put you in touch with other like-minded individuals in your area.

So, if you, or your society, collect biological records you can help to protect our natural heritage by passing your information on. RECORD is now open and would be pleased to receive any information about plants or animals you might have seen/recorded. Observations might come from trips to the countryside or simply from your own backyard. No matter how trivial you think the record is, it will be and is useful to us.

We collate all terrestrial, freshwater and marine records, and the basic facts we need to know are:-

Your Name, Address and Telephone number,
Species Name,
Site where the observation was made,
OS Grid Reference for the Site (if you don't know how to do this we can help, give us a ring),
Date of Observation (e.g. 13/12/1998).
Any further information is always useful (e.g. numbers, sexes, habits, etc.).

Records can be sent to the centre for inputting to the database via paper records, computerised records via e-mail ([email protected]), on record forms via our website (www.rECOrd-LRC.co.uk), or on the recording sheet which is downloadbale from our web-site. If you would like to help RECORD further (e.g. by learning to become a recorder, assisting us in our office, or in any other way), please contact us at the above address.

We hope that you realise how important supplying a Local Record Centre with biological data is for helping both the environment, individual species, assisting research and aiding decision-making processes.

RECORD would like to thank their Support Group

Cheshire County Council	www.cheshire.gov.uk
Cheshire Wildlife Trust	www.wildlifetrust.org/cheshire/
Chester City Council	www.chestercc.gov.uk
Chester Zoo	www.chesterzoo.org
Congleton Borough Council	www.congleton.gov.uk
Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council	www.crewe-nantwich.gov.uk
Ellesmere Port & Neston Borough Council	www.ellesmereport-neston.gov.uk
Environment Agency	www.environment-agency.gov.uk
Halton Borough Council	www.halton.gov.uk
Macclesfield Borough Council	www.macclesfield.gov.uk
Mersey Basin Campaign	www.merseybasin.org.uk
Mersey Forest	www.merseyforest.org.uk
National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside	www.nmgm.org.uk
Natural England	www.naturalengland.org.uk
North West Naturalists Union	www.consult-eco.ndirect.co.uk/recordng/nwnu/
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds	www.rspb.org.uk
Vale Royal Borough Council	www.valeroyal.gov.uk
Warrington Borough Council	www.warrington.gov.uk
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council	www.wirral.gov.uk

Contact:

rECOrd
Oakfield House
Chester Zoological Gardens
Upton
Chester
CH2 1LH

Tel: 01244 383749 / 383569
Fax: 01244 383569
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.rECOrd-LRC.co.uk