West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre
We are one of four Local Records Centres which together serve as a biodiversity data storage and management facility for the whole of Wales. Each LRC acts as a regional node in the National Biodiversity Network and is defined as “a not-for profit service run in partnership for the public benefit, which collects, collates, manages and disseminates information of known quality relating to the wildlife, wildlife sites and habitats for a defined geographic area”
WWBIC covers biological recording activity in an area of some 5650km2. This includes the Vice Counties of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and all of Carmarthenshire except the small Eastern sector of the county that falls within the Brecon Beacons National Park – this area is handled by our neighbouring LRC, BIS (which covers the Brecon Beacons and Powys).
The establishment of the Records Centre has been supported by CCW and other major users of the database including Welsh Government Sponsored Bodies and Local Planning Authorities. These funding partners need the biological data in order to fulfil their statutory requirements – they must ‘have regard’ for biodiversity conservation while carrying out their planning and land management activities.