Where the records come from
The NBDC gathers records from surveys, recording schemes and members of the public across Ireland, and publishes them to GBIF, an international open database of species records. Each record is one sighting: a species, a place and a date.
What an IUCN Red List flag means
The IUCN Red List rates how close a species is to extinction. InSite flags records of species rated:
- Vulnerable (VU),
- Endangered (EN), or
- Critically Endangered (CR).
Some are surprising. The European eel is Critically Endangered, and the rabbit is rated Endangered on the global list, so a flag doesn't always mean a rare sight. Read it with the species in mind.
Why it matters for a site
- Protected species: bats, otters, badgers and some birds and plants are protected by law wherever they occur, not just in designated sites. Work that would disturb them, such as demolishing an old building with a bat roost or clearing hedgerows in nesting season, can need a licence or timing restrictions.
- Planning: records of protected species nearby can lead the council to ask for an ecological survey.
What it can't tell you
- No record isn't no wildlife. Places near towns and popular walks get far more records than farmland or private land. An absence of records is mostly an absence of recorders.
- Some sensitive species' locations are deliberately blurred in public data to protect them.
- It isn't an ecological survey. If protected species are likely, an ecologist's survey is what counts.
Related
- SACs, SPAs and NHAs: designated nature sites
Sources
- National Biodiversity Data Centre, biodiversityireland.ie, via GBIF
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Last reviewed 2026-10-02.