BIS

Services :: Overview

Providing rapid access to biodiversity information for better decision making

With its ever expanding database BIS can provide a range of professional services to a variety of users. Information is freely available for educational purposes, recorders, and the public, with certain restrictions on release of confidential or sensitive species information. BIS operates as a not-for-profit organisation and does not charge for data it supplies, however we do reserve the right to pass on the cost of collating, analysing and reporting on the data to commercial users.

For further ecological advice on wildlife records BIS holds please contact the relevant local expert.

The main system for commercial reporting is LERC Wales Aderyn (the Biodiversity Information and Reporting Database) which has been developed by the Biodiversity Information Service (BIS) for LERC Wales.

The commercial reporting system is designed to allow commercial users to enter their search enquiry online, choosing from a number of standard packages. The customer completes the online Data Enquiry Release Form (DERF) which is then automatically emailed to the LERC. When the LERC receives the enquiry it runs the search in Aderyn and a quote is emailed to the customer. Once accepted and fully processed, the customers will receive a link to view the data in a variety of formats. This fast, efficient service provides a much improved final product, which not only gives the customer an interactive view of all the data online, but also allows the results to be downloaded as a CSV (Comma separated value / spreadsheet) or shapefile.

See our on-line Data Enquiry Service page for more information, available packages, charges and to start a data enquiry.

Reporting through Aderyn provides information on species, habitats and designated sites, categorised to follow a range of international, European, national and locally recognised statuses.

Species Data

Four categories of species have been defined to support this service and are standardised with LERC Wales:

• Priority - Species with European and UK Legal Protection, Section 7 [Environment Act Wales] Species & UK BAP Priority Species)
• Species of Conservation Concern - Global Red List, British Red Data Book, Nationally Rare & Scarce, Welsh Red and Amber Birds & Welsh Vascular Plant Red Data List where these are not identified in Priority category
• Local Important Species - Locally Important species as specified by local experts
• Other – All other species records that do not fit above criteria

Habitats Data

The Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Phase 1 habitat map (2003-2006) and the original NRW Phase 1 Habitat map (1997) can be displayed to show the occurrence of any known semi-natural habitats in the relevant search area. NRW Phase II surveys are also included.

Designated Sites

Aderyn reports on statutory and local sites within the relevant search areas. These include, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Areas for Conservation, Special Protection Areas and National Nature Reserves, Wildlife Sites and Regionally Important Geological Sites. NRW Ancient Woodland Inventory and NRW Priority Areas are also included where present.

Aderyn Planning Reporting Tool

This service allows the LERC to process weekly planning lists from unitary authorities, in an automated fashion requiring minimum input from the list provider. The system is designed to receive the weekly list as a CSV (comma separated value) file which is then processed by the LERC. Recipients can be defined on the system and then receive an email showing the latest applications along with an overview of the data returned for that application. The user can view the results online in Aderyn showing detailed species, habitat and designated site information with Red Alerts highlighted (Priority Species records within 10m of the application location). The results may also be viewed in Cofnod eMapper where full or public reports can be printed. The Aderyn Planning Viewer contains lists of all applications processed for a planning authority along with a facility to search applications and view the original data.

Aderyn Full Partner Access

This tool allows partners with a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to view and search LERC Wales species, habitat and designated site data within a web browser. The area of access will be defined by a geo-lock. The user can search for data around a point, polyline or polygon, with or without a buffer, or within a predefined polygon such as a vice-county. The results can be further filtered by date, species status, species category, taxon group etc. The user can then view the results in Aderyn or Cofnod eMapper, print a report (via eMapper), or download the data in a variety of formats.

GIS Alert Layers

These are a customised sub-section of species and site data for use under licence in the customers Geographic Information Systems. As part of the service, the BIS will supply regular updates, which will incorporate any additions made to the reporting database used at BIS.

Direct Data Access

Under an SLA a partner may be granted direct access to the LERC Wales species database containing over 10 million records. This allows the user to take the data into their own systems for viewing and reporting. (Please contact BIS for more technical information and costs).

Support of Local Nature Action Plans

• Maintaining the baseline species and habitat database
• Species and habitat audits
• Statistics and analysis

Data Capture

• Manual digitisation of information from paper records
• Import of digitised data from a wide range of sources and formats into a standardised database
• Retrieval of data held in obscure or obsolete electronic formats
• Geographic data capture for use with habitat or site information
• Planning and supervision of survey and recording projects
• BIS On-line recording tool (WiReD) set up for individual project recording
• Setting up mobile devices for data capture in the field

Data Management

• Data quality checking and assurance in partnership with local and national species experts
• Collation of data from an extensive range of sources spanning the private, public and voluntary sectors
• Working with LERC Wales on development and application of protocols across Wales for data management and sharing, including data exchange with Vice-county recorders, Schemes and Societies, and NBN Gateway
• GIS Data analysis
• Species distribution – maps showing distribution of individual species or taxon group by grid square

BIS also offers additional support to local recorders at no or minimal charge:

• Free biological recording software and IT advice
• County recorder on-line access to county records held by BIS through Aderyn
• On-line Wildlife Recording Database for casual or project wildlife recording
• Digitisation of paper records or transfer of data between database software
• Species distribution maps and help in Atlas production
• Provision of base mapping for recording and surveying in accordance with BIS Ordnance Survey licence
• Recorders newsletter
• Recorders Forum
• BIS website
• BIS Facebook page
• Website Development for local recording groups (See Brecknock Moths)
• Taxonomic identification and recording training days
• Field recording days
• Notification of opportunities that may arise for paid or unpaid survey work
• Raising the profile of recorders and recording groups through website events and contacts pages, plus newsletter
• Free venue for ID training workshops or private use , including microscopes, video microscope, projector, ID books.