Herefordshire Biological Records Centre (HBRC) was formally established in 2001, the culmination of some years’ discussions and decisions amongst the recording community and many organisations such as (but not exclusively) English Nature, Herefordshire Council, and the Herefordshire Nature Trust.

We are fortunate in Herefordshire to live in a rich environment. HBRC collects and provides access to information on the wildlife that can be found in our county to the communities and to decision makers so they can make wise decisions about management.

Key to the success of HBRC, and hence the county BAP, is the work of recording societies / interest groups and their expert recorder(s). HBRC receives many records from many sources but by far the most numerous are those submitted by, or received from, the various local or national recording schemes or societies. HBRC has been playing a key role in collating analysing records gathered from a variety of recording-based projects, most notably the Rare Plants Register in association with the Botanical Society of the British Isles and Herefordshire Botanical Society, the Community Commons Project run by Herefordshire Nature Trust and the Pond and Newts Project that is being run by the Herefordshire Amphibian and Reptile Team. HBRC recently published the Dragonflies of Herefordshire and it is very much hoped that this will stimulate further future publications and new recording.

HBRC has been active within the framework of the Herefordshire BAP by:

• Developing and supporting the network of Herefordshire recorders / groups (for example holding Recorders Meetings or organising site recording or training)
• Work to database and analyse records records for key sites
• Support users by providing access to data, and developing solutions to data provision locally such as a web portal for records access and for records submission
• Work towards the publication of an Atlas of Herefordshire Reptiles & Amphibians, plus other publications
• Providing data for planning and policy work, so as to promote well planned and locally relevant recording and monitoring
• Incorporating data on priority species into the HBRC database and ensuring that legally protected species information is available in future to planners and decision makers: to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities fully

There is much further work to be done. Priority Habitats in the county need to be fully identified, recorded and mapped. There are new recorders to support, involve and train. Additional partners and agencies need to be approached, their data needs identified and their people involved in our work. However, HBRC is still in early days and is not resourced to the level recommended for our county. This limits our capability to fully support the BAP process, as well as to respond fully to enquiries. We have been able to provide records to assist local targetted action (such as through Environmental Stewardship Schemes) and also regional conservation planning. We are extremely reliant on the skills, knowledge and goodwill of expert recorders, whose enthusiasm and support is vital to the success of HBRC. Therefore further work within the BAP framework to identify and secure key projects and funding must remain a key priority in order to consolidate HBRC as the main holder and provider of biological data for the county, and to support and involve the recorders in this process.

HBRC is a partnership project of English Nature, Herefordshire Council and Herefordshire Nature Trust. We receive funding from Herefordshire Council and English Nature.

For further information please contact Steve Roe.