Field Studies Council
Sue Townsend
Biodiversity Learning Manager
sue.t@field-studies-council.org
http:// www.field-studies-council.org
Rich Burkmar
Tomorrow’s Biodiversity Project Officer
richardb@field-studies-council.org
http://tombio.myspecies.info
Field notes of a training provider:
joining the dots for biological
recording training
Future
Challenges
for the NBN
Future
Challenges
for the FSC
Taxonomists...
an endangered
species!
Naturalist
Extinct 2020
Where we came from:
key facts about us
 Began in Dec 1943
 In 2013 we estimate that there are over
150,000 visitor contacts at an FSC
centre and over 7000 contacts at other
sites, eg through OPAL
 Now operates 19 Centres
Where we came from:
Why on earth did it start?
 A perceived need to get young people
into the natural environment
 A chance meeting between a forward
thinking schools inspector and a
representative of the National Trust
 A chance to see ‘the real thing’
Where we are now:
So what do we do?
 Provide courses for school groups,
universities, professionals and amateur
learners
 Lobby government in support of outdoor
learning
 Run a series of environmental projects
 Produce identification publications
Where we are now:
Customer Base
Where we are now:
19 FSC Centres in 2013
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Derrygonnelly
Kindrogan
Blencathra • Millport
Castle Head
Malham Tarn
Rhyd-y-creuau
Preston Montford
Dale Fort
Orielton
Margam Park
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Flatford Mill
Juniper Hall
Nettlecombe Court
Slapton Ley
Amersham (Day)
Epping Forest (Day)
London (Day)
• Head office
• Titanic Quarter - Belfast
Where we are now:
Identification training & resources
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Access to a large number of skilled tutors
Well placed to run further training courses nationwide
Longstanding reputation
A network of successful field centres and contacts
throughout the UK
 A recognition that not all training courses are commercially
viable
 A recognition that the UK identification skills are patchy
 An awareness that there is a reliance on volunteer data
Identification and
recording resources
Where we are now:
A changing customer base
 The level of ‘competency’ in biodiversity skills offered by
teachers and students has declined over the past 50 years.
 The commitment within schools and universities to wholeorganism biology is continuing to decline.
 Systematic monographs have transitioned through AIDGAP
keys to fold out charts for identification. We published over
150,00 publications in 2013 - 96% were fold-out charts.
 The current identification resource ‘landscape’ is becoming
much more complex – including the exponential growth in
electronic and social media
Where we are now:
Challenges to biological recording as
part of FSC business
 Much of the existing capacity for biodiversity
training is project-related with external funding
streams eg HLF, DEFRA
 Letting the market prevail has led to a significant
shift in the balance of identification courses as
compared to other strands eg geography/
environmental science etc.
Our Vision
Partnership
Products
Review
• Work with all players in the recording community to
ensure recorders are supported in the development
of skills for identification and data submission.
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Provide resources and support for tutors
Deliver identification training and mentoring
Develop identification resources
Consider how identification leads to records
• Role out new resources
• Monitor recording success
How we aim to get there:
Recent FSC biodiversity projects
2006
Biodiversity Training Project
 Heritage Lottery Fund
 2006-2010
2007
2008
2009
2010
Invertebrate Challenge
 Heritage Lottery Fund
 2011-2014
Biodiversity Fellowship
 Defra Fund for Biodiversity in the Voluntary Sector
 2013-2014
Tomorrow’s Biodiversity
 Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
 2013-2018
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
How we aim to get there:
Invertebrate Challenge
Medium to high level training
 Followed on from Biodiversity Training Project
 Produced ten new Shropshire county recorders - Araneae, Collembola, Orthoptera,
Coleoptera, Diptera (several groups), Odonata, Lepidoptera (micro-moths), terrestrial Hemiptera (two
recorders), aquatic Hemiptera
 Four had no taxonomic experience in the group for which they’ve become
county recorder prior to BTP & Invertebrate Challenge
Much more than ID training
 Regular working meetings at Preston Montford
 Continued support from taxonomic experts
 Five new Shropshire atlases: shieldbugs, craneflies, aculeate hymenoptera,
micro-moths and longhorn beeltes
 Annual conference (Shropshire Ento Day) – 70+ people
 ‘Official’ newsletter
How we aim to get there:
Biodiversity Fellowship
ID training delivery
 FSC in partnership with recording schemes & societies
 Subsidised training on under recorded taxa
 75 courses – mixture of 1 day and 2-3 day
 250 People attended one or more course
Supporting people
 450 People signed up to be ‘FSC biodiversity fellows’
 120 Joined a facebook group
 Mentoring and support
 Continuing engagement
How we aim to get there:
Biodiversity Fellowship
Do you feel more confident to make accurate identifications & records since your involvement
in Bio.fells?
Identifications
Records
Please estimate how many records you have submitted in 2013 as a result of Bio.fells training
Total: 13,598
Mean for each of 116 respondents who attended a course: 117
Mean for each of 64 respondents who had actually submitted records: 212
How we aim to get there:
Tomorrow’s Biodiversity
Research and Consultation
 Two year research & consultation (plus pilots)
 Focus on under-resourced taxa and habitats that have potential in
biodiversity monitoring
 Identify gaps in identification and monitoring skills & resources
Training & support
 Years 3-5 of project with early pilots
 ID / protocol training & support network
Resources
 Provide new resources (e.g. AIDGAP)
 Investigate and pilot multiple delivery platforms
 http://tombio.mysepecies.info
How we aim to get there:
Joining the dots
MMU /
FSC / BSBI
MSc
Local Record
Centres
NBN Gateway &
iRecord
FSC
Natural
History
courses
Invertebrate
Challenge
National Scheme &
Societies
and County Recorders
Future
Projects
Tomorrow’s
Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Training
Project
Volunteers & citizen
scientists
National
agencies
Biodiversity
Fellowship
Emerging iSpot, Flickr,
ipternity,
facebook,
Twitter
FSC will...
 Continue to support field naturalists
 Seek partners/supporters in individuals,
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

societies and agencies
Promote field identification skills in all our
customer groups
Actively encourage identifications to lead to
accurate records
Develop further strategies to ensure
submission of data to NBN