Cofnod’s 2,000,000th Record Breaker
Cofnod celebrated an important milestone recently, with the 2 millionth record being entered into its species database on 13th January 2016.
We’re pleased the 2 millionth record was entered using our Online Recording System (ORS) and that it was from a consultant ecologist, entering their important survey results directly onto our database of wildlife records. It demonstrates that even though data from consultants currently forms only a small part of our database, we are hugely grateful to those hard working professionals who take time to share their records with us.
So what was the 2 millionth record? We’re pleased to announce it was a fairly uncommon species in our region, indeed throughout Wales, and was a: Noctule Bat (Nyctalus noctula), recorded near Betws Garmon in Gwynedd
Having spoken to the recorder, Cathy Wüster, she said she was inspired to enter some of her historic survey data by our recent news about the looming 2 millionth record, hoping her data would contribute to achieving the target.
It was fitting that the Noctule bat was the 2 millionth record as there remains much to learn about this species; as Cathy says,
“I am delighted to see that a Noctule bat made the 2 millionth record. This endearing and gentle-natured bat is one of our largest species, with an estimated 10th of the British population residing in Wales. We still have a lot to learn about the species in North Wales and whilst they are conspicuous when out and about, they remain elusive during the daytime and the winter months and we have little knowledge of their roost locations in the area.”
Reaching the 2 millionth species record is a good time to reflect on how far Cofnod have come in the past 10 years, developing a database from scratch to one which is constantly growing. We now store records for over 17,000 species, in virtually every part of North Wales, with the earliest record dating back to 1590. The systems we have developed mean that records are now entered on an hourly basis and we’re proud of the fact that our systems are constantly evolving to keep pace with technology. Who would have thought 10 years ago that someone could request data from us and within a couple of clicks receive the relevant information almost instantly on their desktop.
Alongside our sophisticated systems, perhaps the most striking difference today is just how many relevant records we now hold. For example when we recently re-ran our first enquiry for data, submitted in April 2007 by a Consultant Ecologist, it generated nearly 200 records, whereas it originally generated just 15. Inspired by this we also re-ran our first report for a Local Authority, which checks all planning applications for a particular week against the important wildlife information we hold. This report yielded just over 2700 records compared to just over 100 when it was originally run in April 2007. Furthermore, at the time this enquiry took several hours to complete and now it took just a matter of minutes. It’s worth saying that the important thing is not always the quantity of data we hold. We’re also very pleased that the quality of the data has increased, due to the way the data are processed and ultimately the way in which people collect, store and collate their data too.
Exchanging data with expert recorders has always been one of our top priorities, and we’re very lucky to continue to gain access to a wide range of high quality datasets across the region. Today over half our data comes from a huge army of volunteer recorders, sending data to local or national experts or directly to us to share with others. During 2006 a small group of local expert recorders began using our ground breaking Online Recording System to enter, view and check the quality of records. In that first year using this system 183 records were submitted by 21 recorders, whilst in 2015 a massive 17,630 records were submitted by 276 recorders. We’re immensely pleased about the increasing popularity of the ORS and also that it has been used as a model for other online systems now in use across the UK. Furthermore even though it was possibly the first system of its kind, we continue to develop and promote its use, making it easier for users to enter and visualise their data and also share their data with experts, who in turn help us achieve consistently high quality data. One area we have seen a big increase in use has been with groups or organisations who wish to enter and share their data with other users. We now have some great examples of this across the region and indeed across Wales, with data coming from Dormouse, Sand Lizard and Natterjack Toad monitoring in North East Wales, Wales wide Black Grouse monitoring data coming in from the RSPB and partner organisations and staff at Natural Resources Wales using it to enter their field observations. Despite the continually evolving nature of the ORS, it continues to fulfil its originally intended role of providing a place for the likes of Cathy Wüster to rapidly enter, store and share her wildlife records and we wish to encourage more individual observers to use it for this purpose in the future.
Congratulations to Cathy for entering her milestone record and equally thank you to everybody who has contributed records to Cofnod over the past 10 years. We’re already thinking of the 3 million target and we hope you can help us achieve this in the very near future.
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