National Biodiversity Network

Name

National Biodiversity Network

Legal name

National Biodiversity Network Trust

Website

https://nbn.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biodiversity Data Platform

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Data Management Platforms (EHS/EMS, LIMS, ELN, Compliance Data Hubs) (EUAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) / No Net Loss Planning & Metrics (EUAHAHAJ)

Keywords

• Biodiversity data platform
• Wildlife recording software
• Species occurrence records
• Biological recording tools
• Conservation data sharing

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership subscriptions: The NBN Trust operates as a charity relying on membership fees from over 200 member organizations, supporters, and sponsors
2. Donations and fundraising: Charitable donations from individuals and organizations supporting biodiversity data sharing
3. Corporate support and sponsorship: Corporate partnerships and sponsorship arrangements

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The NBN Trust operates the NBN Atlas, the UK's primary biodiversity data portal hosting over 385 million species occurrence records, alongside tools such as Recorder 6 (desktop biological recording software) and Indicia (online recording package). The organization functions as a membership-based charity network of 200+ organizations enabling volunteer recorders, conservation NGOs, government agencies, and Local Environmental Records Centres to record, share, and use standardized wildlife data across the UK.

Product overview

The National Biodiversity Network offers a suite of interconnected biodiversity data management and sharing products. The core offering is the NBN Atlas (https://nbnatlas.org), the UK's primary biodiversity data portal hosting over 385 million species occurrence records. Regional variants include NBN Atlas Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Isle of Man. Supporting products include Recorder 6 (desktop biological recording software), Indicia (online recording package built with OPAL), NBN Toolbox (recording and mapping tools), and iNaturalistUK (citizen science integration). Community engagement is facilitated through the NBN Forum and NBN Record Cleaner for data quality. The platform connects over 200 member organizations through shared data infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NBN Atlas: The UK's biodiversity data portal holding species occurrence records
• NBN Atlas Scotland
• NBN Atlas Wales
• NBN Atlas Northern Ireland
• NBN Atlas Isle of Man
• NBN Forum

Products and services

• NBN Atlas The UK's primary biodiversity data portal, providing access to over 385 million UK species occurrence records. The platform enables recording, sharing, searching, downloading, and exploration of wildlife data across the UK for conservation organizations, government agencies, researchers, and volunteer recorders.
• NBN Atlas Scotland Regional variant of the NBN Atlas providing Scotland-specific biodiversity data access and visualization through the Atlas of Living Scotland platform for Scottish conservation users and policy makers.
• NBN Atlas Wales Regional variant of the NBN Atlas providing Wales-specific biodiversity data access and visualization for Welsh conservation and policy stakeholders.
• NBN Atlas Northern Ireland Regional variant of the NBN Atlas providing Northern Ireland-specific biodiversity data access for local recorders and policy users.
• NBN Atlas Isle of Man Regional variant of the NBN Atlas providing Isle of Man-specific biodiversity data access and visualization.
• Recorder 6 Desktop biological recording software for managing and submitting wildlife records, with licence payments and technical forum support. Used by recording organizations and serious individual recorders for local data management.
• Indicia Online recording package enabling online biodiversity data collection and submission through customizable web forms, developed in partnership with OPAL. Used by organizations wishing to embed online recording into their own websites.
• NBN Toolbox Collection of curated tools and resources for recording and mapping biodiversity data, including species identification resources and a database of wildlife surveys and recording schemes. Used by volunteer recorders and recording organizations.
• iNaturalistUK Citizen science platform integration delivered in partnership with iNaturalist, enabling public participation in wildlife recording and biodiversity data collection across the UK.
• NBN Record Cleaner Tool for cleaning and validating biodiversity records to improve data quality, used by recorders and verification experts with dedicated forum support for announcements and user feedback.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 385 million UK species occurrence records accessible through NBN Atlas
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Open University (iSpot)coreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Open University for iSpotnature citizen science platform - online community for wildlife identification and recording
• OPAL (Open Air Laboratories)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to develop Indicia, an online recording package for biodiversity data collection
• GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)coreTechnology or IntegrationNBN Atlas data contributes to and integrates with GBIF's global biodiversity information infrastructure
• TDWG (Biodiversity Information Standards)coreTechnology or IntegrationInternational standards body for biodiversity data - NBN participates in Darwin Core standards development
• Association of Local Environmental Records Centres (ALERC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational body representing LERCs - provides central voice for the records centre community within NBN network
• National Forum for Biological RecordingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent voice for biological recording in the UK - promoting the importance of biological recording

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Canadensys: Canadensys is Canada's national biodiversity data network (a GBIF participant), operating an architecture similar to NBN Atlas for Canadian species occurrence records. Operates outside the UK but uses the same GBIF/Darwin Core stack.
• SpeciesLink (CRIA): SpeciesLink is the Brazilian biodiversity data network integrating biological collections and occurrence data. Same GBIF/Darwin Core node architecture as NBN but serving a different (South American) geography.

Direct peers

• eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology): eBird is the dominant global bird recording platform operated by Cornell Lab. NBN integrates bird records from BTO via the Atlas; eBird represents the type of category-leading citizen science platform that competes for wildlife-recorder attention.
• iNaturalist: The world's largest citizen-science biodiversity recording platform; NBN has a formal partnership via iNaturalistUK. Directly comparable product (mobile recording, AI identification, species occurrence sharing) and overlapping user base with NBN Atlas.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): GBIF is the global intergovernmental biodiversity data infrastructure network. NBN's Atlas data is contributed to GBIF, and the two operate on Darwin Core standards. GBIF is the most direct structural peer — a national-node network (NBN is the UK node) pooling species occurrence data globally.
• LifeWatch ERIC: LifeWatch is the European e-infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research. Directly comparable organization — a distributed data infrastructure coordinating biodiversity data across national nodes, including UK-relevant use cases.
• NatureServe: NatureServe is a US/Canada-based non-profit network providing biodiversity data and conservation status assessments (analogous to UK BNG use cases). Directly comparable mission: producing authoritative biodiversity data for science, policy, and conservation.
• Map of Life: Map of Life is a Yale-led biodiversity data platform aggregating species occurrence and range data for research and conservation. Comparable in mission (global species data integration) and serves similar researcher/government users.
• Atlas of Living Australia (ALA / CSIRO): Australia's national biodiversity data platform, sharing near-identical architecture, mission, and governance structure (multi-node Atlas of Living framework with a central portal) as the NBN Atlas. ALA is the closest international functional equivalent and a key reference partner.

Emerging players

• Pl@ntNet: Pl@ntNet is an AI-powered plant identification citizen science platform. Narrower in taxon scope (plants) than NBN but directly comparable in the citizen recording, AI identification, and open data dimensions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NBNTrust
• Facebookfacebook.com/National-Biodiversity-Network-117818225374
• Instagraminstagram.com/national_biodiversity_network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Biodiversity Network