ANNUAL Review 2014
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Print edition: ISSN 2009-8537 Online edition: ISSN 2009-8545 The National Biodiversity Data Centre ANNUAL Review 2014 Ireland’s National Node 2 Contents Chairman’s Statement ........................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction to Strategic Objectives ................................................................................................ 5 Strategic objective 1: Mobilising data ............................................................................................. 6 Strategic objective 2: Tracking change ......................................................................................... 12 Strategic objective 3: Informing decision-making ................................................................... 16 Strategic objective 4: Develop strategic-partnerships ......................................................... 20 Strategic objective 5: International collaboration ................................................................... 24 Strategic objective 6: Communicating ......................................................................................... 26 Strategic objective 7: Strengthening the recorder base ....................................................... 28 Management Board ............................................................................................................................. 30 Staff & contract management .......................................................................................................... 30 Financial Statement ............................................................................................................................. 32 Recorders and partner organisations ........................................................................................... 34 The National Biodiversity Data Centre is an initiative of the Heritage Council and is operated under a service level agreement by Compass Informatics. The Centre is funded by the Department of the Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht and the Heritage Council. The National Biodiversity Data Centre Annual Review 2014 Citation: Lysaght, L., Fitzpatrick, Ú., Murray, T., O’Flynn, C. & Walsh, M. (2015). National Biodiversity Data Centre – Annual Review 2014. National Biodiversity Data Centre, Waterford. Ireland. G.B.I.F. Ireland's National Node 3 4 Chairman’s Statement The role of the National Biodiversity Targeted species monitoring is particularly important Data Centre has to be and is more as it will in time provide suffi cient data to analyse than acquisition and storage of data. trends and detect species’ declines. The Data Centre It is about ensuring that relevant data runs two successful monitoring schemes on butterfl ies and information are made available and bees. The butterfl y monitoring scheme is in its 11th to inform policy and decision-making year with 120 volunteers and now there are suffi cient related to protection, conservation data to statistically analyse trends and contribute and management of biodiversity and vital information to inform conservation efforts. It sustainable use of the goods and is becoming increasingly important that repeated services it underpins. It also has a role surveys of other species groups are undertaken in in terms of education and promoting a way that enables trends and other quantitative interest in our biodiversity heritage. analyses and reporting. The Data Centre is in the In the light of these needs the Data process of developing a national sampling framework Centre set out seven strategic objectives in 2013 for which should be completed in 2015. its second fi ve-year term placing an emphasis on collection and dissemination of relevant data and The contribution of volunteer recorders or citizen information, and has reported the highlights of the science in these monitoring schemes and several other 2014 projects under each of these objectives. When data collection efforts cannot be underestimated and you read through this report you will get a sense of the indeed is essential to the delivery of several of the Data breath and strategic importance of the projects and Centre’s objectives. The recording is most often done the substantial progress that has been in many areas. in their spare time and at their own expense. Their I would like to highlight in particular the signifi cant contribution is particularly critical in reporting of contribution of the Data Centre to the drafting of invasive species and the numbers participating in the three national biodiversity reports, the Interim Review Data Centre’s ‘Spot an Alien’ initiative is growing. On of Implementation of the National Biodiversity Plan behalf of the Director, staff and Management Board of 2011-2017, the 5th National Report to the Convention on Data Centre I would like to express our sincere thanks to Biological Diversity, and the National Report on State the hundreds of recorders involved. The Data Centre is of Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture in Ireland, and always welcoming and supportive of new recorders and its key role in co-ordinating the production of a draft its programme of training workshops and fi eld meeting All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020 during the year. is contributing to upskilling citizen science. There is The latter is an example of a shared plan of action with also the opportunity for recorders to undertake the new the Data Centre providing central coordination and university course, Certifi cate in Biological Recording and support for an important initiative. Identifi cation, which was launched in February 2014, as a collaboration between University College Dublin The Data Centre could not function without the and the Data Centre. I would like to congratulate the support of the data providers and it is extremely fi rst intake of students, Kieran Brennan, Willie Bryan, important that the fl ow of data to the Data Centre Geoff Hunt and Declan MacGabhann, who successfully is maintained through time. Thankfully this has completed the course in 2014. been the case to date and over 3 million records covering almost half of Ireland’s known species are Finally, I would like to thank the Director and staff of now in the National Biodiversity Database and can the Data Centre for their continued dedication, hard be visualised on the Data Centre’s Biodiversity Maps. work and impressive achievements in 2014, and the This represents growth of over 11% in the number of Management Board for their input and support given records added to the system during 2014. to the Data Centre. Dr. Mary Kelly-Quinn Chairman Introduction The National Biodiversity Data Centre is a national organisation that collects and manages data on Ireland biodiversity, to document Ireland’s wildlife resource and to track how it is changing over time. It was established by the Heritage Council in 2007 and is funded by the Heritage Council and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The Data Centre’s mission is: ‘....to provide national co-ordination and standards of biodiversity data and recording, assist the mainstreaming of biodiversity data and information into decision making, planning, conservation management and research, and encourage greater engagement by society in documenting and appreciating biodiversity.’ he Strategic Plan 2013-2017 sets out seven This Annual Review provides an overview of the primary objectives to assist identifi cation of work of the Data Centre during 2014, highlights some Tpriorities and to guide its work programme. of its main achievements during the year and shows how the different elements of the work of the Data Centre contributes to the objectives it has identifi ed. The seven objectives are: The Data Centre’s Strategic Plan 2013-2017 1 Mobilising data: Serve as a national hub for the can be downloaded at storage, display and dissemination of biodiversity www.biodiversityireland.ie/ data through the online data portal Biodiversity about-us/strategic-plan/ Maps. 2 Tracking change: Identify the need for, and assist the production of high quality, scientifi cally robust data to track changes in Ireland’s species and habitats. 3 Informing decision-making: Facilitate and promote the use of biodiversity data to inform public policy and decision-making through data analysis, interpretation and reporting. 4 Develop strategic partnerships: Support and collaborate with the Data Centre’s partners to assist effi cient delivery of their objectives. 5 International collaboration: Facilitate the provision of Irish biodiversity data to international initiatives. 6 Communicating: Communicate the value of Ireland’s biological diversity and raise awareness of how it is changing. 7 Strengthening the recording base: support the recorder and citizen science network to increase the quantity and quality of biodiversity data generated in Ireland. 5 6 Strategic objective 1. Mobilising data: Serve as a national hub for the storage, display and dissemination of biodiversity data through the online data portal Biodiversity Maps. Expected benefi t: a greatly expanded knowledge base on Ireland’s biological diversity and increased availability of data for decision-making, planning, conservation management and research. 2014 Highlights Taxonomic composition he number of data sets and the total number of Higher plants account for 1,287,736 records, which records contained in the National Biodiversity is 41% of the total. Birds comprise 22%, insects 17%, TDatabase continued to grow in 2014. It