Key resolutions and recommendations from the NFBR/NBN Joint Conference 2004

  "Natural Partners: biodiversity observations and collections"

Cardiff, 2-3 July 2004

1. The Conference affirmed that a key link between biodiversity data and biodiversity collections is the role of collections in underpinning long-term data quality.

2. The Conference confirmed that there has been a serious decline in resources to manage biodiversity collections across the UK, and that this is largely a direct result of the increasing divorce between these collections and the process of collecting and using biodiversity data.

3. The Conference recommended that biodiversity data collectors and managers should aim to ensure the long-term viability of data, and should adopt mechanisms to ensure that these data are supported by reference to relevant collections where necessary.

4. The Conference recommended that collectors of data should define their responsibilities to ensure that, where relevant, records are underpinned by the collection of specimens, and that these are maintained for the future.

5. The Conference recommended that biological recording schemes and societies should actively formalise their relationship with relevant local and national taxonomic expertise, and promote more formal agreements with appropriate museums and other holders of collections over the use and deposit of specimens.

6. The Conference recommended that museums which hold biological collections should actively seek to engage with local volunteer networks and expertise, to support and reinforce the maintenance and use of these collections as an archive of voucher or related material and as a resource to underpin the local collection of records.

7. The Conference recommended that the National Biodiversity Network Trust should actively pursue the issue of a statutory need to be recognised for quality biodiversity data to be made available in the Environmental Assessment process, parallel to the situation for archaeological information.

8. The Conference recommended that the National Biodiversity Network Trust should actively support the need for biological collections to be used by local biodiversity partnerships to underpin their data.

9. The Conference recommended that all biodiversity organisations should seek to promote the links between biodiversity collections and the collection of data, and to encourage collaborative approaches to the funding of collections through formal partnerships with users of biodiversity information.

10. The Conference recommended that the National Biodiversity Network Trust should develop best practice guidance, with partners, concerning the long-term management of natural science archives, including electronic data and "grey literature".

11. The Conference recommended that relevant organisations should seek to encourage professional training and accreditation for staff involved in biological recording, particularly in local records centres.

12. The Conference recommended that the Museums Association and Resource be asked to promote the development of regional/local "hubs" under the "Renaissance in the Regions" programme, especially in relation to biological collections and their use with respect to biological recording.

Trevor James
13 July 2004

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