The Essex Wildlife Trust Biological Records Centre Annual Report is now available, contact us for a copy!
This report covers from January to December 2015, and outlines the substantial progress made by the EWT Biological Records Centre in the last 12 months. Notable highlights include the new data exchange and Service Level Agreements signed this year; and the official launch of our new website and online recording system, which has proved very popular with our partners and the public alike.
By the end of December 2015 the total number of records held in our central database stood at 418,303; representing an increase of nearly 50,000 records since the end of 2014. Of these new records, approximately half were received via our online recording forms, and 23% of records are for legally protected species. Validation of our data has improved markedly since the launch of our online recording systems, and we now have an online verification form set up on our website, with access limited to verifiers and administrators.
Local Wildlife Sites (LoWS) information has also been transferred online, with the launch of our LoWS finder tool http://www.essexwtrecords.org.uk/LoWSfinder. This tool is accessible by the general public and allows users to search for local wildlife sites by district, name or parish, and access a site map and basic information on each of the LoWS in Essex. Registered users on the website who work in partnership with us can also apply for access to full LoWS citation information online.
The success of these projects will provide a platform on which to build in the coming months, as we work to take on data provision services to consultants and make data more easily accessible to our partners.
For a copy of the full report please email records@essexwt.org.uk.