The Sheffield Biological Records Centre (SBRC) is held and managed by our Ecology Service which is based at Centre in the Park at Norfolk Park.
It is one of more than 60 Local Environmental Record Centres covering the UK and is a member of the Association of Local Record Centres.
SBRC was formed in 1964 and is one of the UK’s oldest biological record centres, with some records dating centuries back. The computerised database currently holds over 511,000 digital species records and is complimented by a range of paper records.
Since 2012, SBRC has also held and managed Barnsley BRC which comprises of an additional 400,000 digital records.
These records cover more than 500 sites across the Metropolitan District, including:
- The Peak District National Park
- Local Nature Reserves
- Local Wildlife Sites
We also hold and update computerised mapping layers held on Geographical Information Systems and associated citation sheets for Local Wildlife Sites.
Our service
SBRC provides a specialist data service to environmental consultancies and maintains a public records service for wider community use.
Our service is used by:
- Natural History Society members and other wildlife recorders
- Friends of/local group members
- Nature Conservation organisations
- landowners
- students, academics and researchers
- ecological consultants
- developers
- utilities providers
- Defra bodies
Biological records are an extremely valuable resource. Accurate information about the distribution of species and habitats, including those which are legally protected, rare or threatened are used to inform research, education and decision-making in:
- planning
- land management
- biodiversity conservation
- invasive species control
- climate change mitigation
For example, our data contributed to the Sheffield State of Nature Report (2018), which underpins local nature recovery efforts.
Data requests
If you'd like to request data from the Sheffield or Barnsley Biological Record Centres, please complete the Data Request Form found on this page. This is both for commercial and non-commercial customers. (The BRC charging and data supply policy is also found on this page.)
Fees for commercial customers for standard requests
The following fees will start from 21 July 2025 and increase annually in line with our fees and charges policy. You can look at our data request form for more details.
Contiguous Ordnance Survey Grid Squares, Point + Radius Searches
| Format | Data | Up to 1km point + radius or line | 1km to 4km point + radius or line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map (PDF) | Boundaries of statutory sites and Local Wildlife Sites (non-statutory) | £50 | £80 |
| Map (PDF) | Habitat data | £50 | £80 |
| Excel spreadsheet | Species list | £60 | £90 |
| Excel spreadsheet | Species list filtered to highlight protected and notable species | £100 | £150 |
| Word or PDF documents | Information about the Local Wildlife Sites per search area | £30 | £60 |
Make a contribution
We are thankful to all those who have contributed data, and who continue to contribute data to the BRC to help keep data up-to-date.
You can contribute to recording Sheffield's wildlife and your local records centre to help the database continue to grow and stay updated with new sightings.
To add your record to the database use the Excel spreadsheet on this page and submit to us by email with the following details:
- which species was seen – from bats to fungi, badgers to butterflies and plants (please give us the species name or you can send a photograph for identification)
- where it was seen – a grid reference or a postcode
- when it was seen – day/month/year
- who saw it – who saw the species and their contact details
- comments (optional) – any notable behaviour observed, or surveying methods used for example)