BRC National Recording Schemes Meeting 2025

Our 2025 meeting was held at the York Railway Museum on 15 March, where we welcomed around 50 national recording scheme organisers along with colleagues from UKCEH, Defra, JNCC and Natural England.

PDF copies of the presentations are available below (unfortunately we were not able to record the talks this year). Many thanks to the excellent speakers for covering a wide range of topics and providing so much information and inspiration, and to all who attended and participated in the discussions. In 2026 we intend to hold an online meeting, returning to an in-person event in 2027. 

Thanks also to colleagues at UKCEH for their help in organising and running the event, which is supported by JNCC and UKCEH via the BReVI project; UKCEH is a not-for-profit research institute which receives support from Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) National Capability funding. This workshop was supported by the NC-UK programme.

• Programme for the day and delegates list
• Data use for delivering England's biodiversity targets (Hannah Hoskins and Gemma Shaw, Defra National Biodiversity Evidence & Analysis Team) – includes a link to Defra's Biodiversity indicators survey (please complete this is you make use of the UK Biodiversity Indicators in your work - survey open until 16 May 2025)
• Invasive non-native species and the role of recording schemes (Lucy Cornwell, GB Non-native Species Secretariat)
• Panel session: Encouraging new recorders in taxonomically difficult groups (led by Robin Hutchinson, UKCEH, with panel members Matt Wainhouse, Natural England Fungi & Lichen Senior Specialist; Olga Sivell, Calliphoridae and Polleniidae Recording Scheme; Meg Skinner, Harvestman Recording Scheme). Included these presentations:
  • Recording 'dark taxa’ - Fungi: Approaches to encouraging recording of species groups that are taxonomically difficult (Matt Wainhouse)
  • Calliphoridae and Polleniidae Recording Scheme (Olga Sivell)
• Taxonomic and geographical coverage across the Diptera (Phil Brighton, Anthomyiidae Recording Scheme)
• The potential of acoustic monitoring to inform and expand common bird monitoring (James Heywood, National Organiser for the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey)

[lunch break]

• Water beetle recording  in Yorkshire (Martin Hammond, Aquatic Coleoptera Conservation Trust)
• Panel session: Consistency and change - how best can BRC and the recording schemes work together (led by Michael Pocock, UKCEH, with panel members Vicky Wilkins, Yorkshire Naturalists' Union / Species Recovery Trust; Chloë Smith, Butterfly Conservation; Keith Gittens, British Dragonfly Society, presenting work in collaboration with Diana Bowler, UKCEH). Included these presentations:
  • The State of Nature in Yorkshire (Vicky Wilkins, standing in for Alastair Fitter)
  • Using national scheme data for scientific research (Chloë Smith)
  • Dragonfly Recording Survey Overview (Keith Gittens / Diana Bowler)
• Recording nationally, thinking locally (Ethan Workman, JNCC)
• Uncovering historical recording: species, places and practices (Brad Scott, Queen Mary University of London and the Natural History Museum / British Bryological Society)