Data Products | Who can use our services? | How to make an enquiry | Our partners

Data Products

 The Environmental Resources Centre of Leicestershire provides a comprehensive wildlife information service to all users within the region.
We can supply standard data products for 1km squares in Leicestershire and Rutland

Geographic area covered  The area we cover was defined 150 years ago (and redefined more accurately recently thanks to the NBN and DEFRA) by botanists wanting to split the country up into roughly equal sized units so as to permit comparisons between regions.  These were termed the Vice Counties and ours is VC 55, the basic unit of recording for all groups of species since that day and a practise which still continues today.  Good relationships between Local Records Centres in adjacent regions ensures that we are able to provide an effective cover, wherever it is needed.

Where data comes from  Wildlife information is collected from a variety of sources,  from government agencies such as  English Nature, from local interest groups , from our own surveys and those of our partners such as Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, from well disposed companies such as British Waterways and Severn Trent Water and some of the environmental consultants who make use of our services.

Data quality  Rigorous validation is an important aspect of the work carried out at the Environmental Resources Centre. Much time is spent in ensuring that data is of the highest quality.

Non-standard enquiries  A range of additional services are available, please contact us if you would like more information.

Developers, consultants and commerce - Access our data at an early stage in planning your development and you can avoid planning objections and costly alterations at a later stage. Administrative fees are payable on each enquiry. Our charging rates are reviewed at the start of each financial year and a full list may be requested at any time. We try to avoid giving estimates but strive to provide good guidance as to how long a particular job may take. We do not charge for the data itself, simply for the cost of supplying it to commercial interests. Alternatively you may wish to take out an annual subscription.

Partners - Mechanisms for exchanging wildlife data with our partners are in place and evolving rapidly. If you have any enquiries or needs related to such exchange (e.g. training in the use of biological recording utilities) then please get in touch.

General Public - It's your service. Enquiries from members of the public are answered free of charge.
We offer a wide range of other services in addition to those listed here. Please contact us if you want more information.

Data Providers - Formal Data Exchange Agreements are a good idea in order to protect your interests. Whilst we naturally observe legal requirements such as the Data Protection Act and other legislation, there may be particular issues that you wish to ensure we are taking into account when supplying data.

We would be particularly glad to receive records or help you with biological recording through our Map Mate and Recorder initiatives.

To answer your enquiry we need:

You can obtain grid references from any Ordnance Survey map (including the new Phillips!OS street map of Leicestershire) or via www.multimap.com
On receiving a request for data services, commercial enquirers will be sent an authorisation form to sign.

Please remember that surveys may not have been carried out in a region for some time, that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" and that you may need to commission a specific survey.  We are unable to provide advice or comment, and are disinterested suppliers of data.  We can, however, suggest organisations who are able to perform this task.

Electronic mail: Reports may be supplied in electronic format if required. To view them you will need Microsoft's Snapshot Viewer obtainable from http://office.microsoft.comldownIoads/9798/ snpvw80. aspx We regret that it is not possible to send you maps in this format.Similarly we would be happy to receive longer lists of 1Km squares electronically in the form of Excel spreadsheets

Samples  We would be happy to provide you with a set of samples of our data products; please enquire.

National Biodiversity Network Trust (www.nbn.org.uk)
Search their site for lots of information about Local Records Centres and visit www.searchnbn.net to find Leicestershire records on the NBN Gateway

National Federation for Biological Recording (www.nfbr.org.uk)
Learn about biological recording from the professionals

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (www.ceh.ac.uk)
Get the facts about all the National Recording Schemes

District Councils and Unitary Authorities, who have formed a Partnership for Environmental Protection (PEP) to secure the environmental data needed for policies and decisions.

Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust  Key players in conservation in the region and lead agency in the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Biodiversity Action Plans for both habitats and species.

Government agencies such as English Nature and the Environment Agency

Environmentally-aware organisations such as Severn Trent Water and British Waterways and other companies who take the trouble to support our activities and share information with us.

And with the people of leicestershire  From the specialist enthusiasts like Mr Broughton and his tireless ant surveying, through groups with common interests such as Leicestershire & Rutland's Amphibian and Reptile Network, Badger Group, Barn Owl Project, Bat Group, Bryological Survey, Dragonfly Group, EntomologicalSociety, Fungus Study Group, Lepidoptera Recording Group, Literary & Philosophical Society and Ornithological Society and the Natural History Societies such as Hinckley & District, Loughborough, Market Bosworth, Market Harborough & District and Rutland; all of whom kindly pass their records through to their Local Records Centre with the expectation that the rich biodiversity of their County will be maintained and enhanced.