How to record mammals

Your records, once submitted to our online form, are stored with the Biological Records Centre‘s (BRC) iRecord database, where they are verified for accuracy.

BRC then upload them to our National Biodiversity Network (NBN) dataset, to add to existing records and other sets on NBN.

All records submitted to us are added to all records held with the BRC and NBN to enrich mammal data that will support research and decision-making at local and national levels.

The Biological Records Centre (BRC), established in 1964, is a national focus in the UK for all species recording, working closely with the voluntary recording community, supporting national recording schemes and societies. The work of BRC is a major component of the NBNs collection of national data. The National Mammal Atlas is a mammal recording scheme that contributes records to this system.

The BRC’s iRecord database is a platform to make it easier for general wildlife sightings to be collated, checked by experts and made available. We use this system to store all records submitted to NMAP (through our online form & app), so our verifiers can check them for accuracy. Once this has been done, this dataset is uploaded to the NBN to add to all mammal data submitted by various recording schemes.

The vast majority of mammal records submitted to local record centres (LRCs), local recording schemes and local mammal groups will also be uploaded to the NBN (sometimes via iRecord, sometimes directly). If you have submitted records to a scheme that you know shares data with the BRC (including iRecord) or NBN, you don’t need to submit them to us too. It is rare to find a group who keep records to themselves, as they are usually either dedicated Local Record Centres, or based at the Local Authority or Wildlife Trusts. County mammal recorders are also usually associated with these organisations.

Our online and app-based recording platforms are designed simply to create a dedicated mammal recording service to add to and enrich the data submitted via these other routes and make it easier for people to find a place to record mammals.

If you cannot ID what you’ve seen, and have a photo, visit iSpot, where a community of mammal experts can provide an identification for you. iSpot will send your record to us. Alternatively, you can check the ID Guides within our Mammal Mapper app.

You can also ask your local County Mammal Recorder, who will be a local expert and can discuss your sighting with you and tell you what you are likely to have seen. Many CMRs are also verifiers of records for NMAP.

There are record centres covering nearly every county in the British Isles. LRCs across Great Britain are coordinated through ALERC (the Association of Local Environmental Record Centres), BRISC lists LRCs in Scotland, Aderyn: the Biodiversity Information and Reporting Database of Local Environmental Records Centres Wales, and CEDaR is the recording centre for Northern Ireland.

Large record sets can be submitted directly to atlas@themammalsociety.org and will be uploaded by BRC. They can be sent in any form, but ideally digitalised.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is a public body of 24 partner conservation organisations, co-ordinated under DEFRA that advises the Government on UK and international nature conservation.

The JNCC established the Tracking Mammals Partnership (TMP) in 2005 to improve the quality, quantity and dissemination of information on the status of mammal species. While the TMP is less active, The Mammal Society has taken the lead in ensuring more mammal information will be openly available through the development of the National Mammal Atlas Project.