Data for the Public

We provide a non-commercial enquiry service for species, habitats, and sites data to recording groups, members of the public, schools, colleges, students, etc. Though this service is often free of charge, we address pricing on a case-by-case basis.

All official enquiries must go through our Data Request Form, available at the link below. If you have any general data-related questions, feel free to contact our Data Manager.

Download Data Request Form (.docx, Word)

Make an enquiry to CBDC

To make an enquiry, please download and complete our Data Request form (Word document) and email the completed form to our Recording Officer. To ensure you get the information you require, please read our Guidance Notes as well as our Terms and Conditions.

To learn about our services, please see our Standard Data Searches section. If your needs aren’t covered by our standard searches, please specify your requirements in an email via the form on our Contact Page or contact our Recording Officer, directly.

Our aim is to make information about Cumbria’s natural environment used as widely as possible.  Only some of our data is available via the NBN Atlas so currently you will need to contact us directly to access the 2.8 million records we hold.

Download: Data Request form (Word Document)

Please note:

CBDC reserves the right to exercise discretion in reducing or waiving charges where there is good cause.

Enquires for large amounts of data or complex enquiries that will take more than 1 hour of CBDC time are liable for charging, unless a Data Exchange Agreement is in place.

Enquiries for conservation and land management are usually chargeable. However, to support local biodiversity conservation we give each conservation charity with nature reserves/land in Cumbria who is actively contributing records to CBDC up to three free standard single site data requests per organisation per annum.

No chargeable service will be carried out without CBDC contacting the enquirer for confirmation to proceed.

If you need clarification about your enquiry please contact one of our staff  who will contact you before proceeding with the request.

Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle keeps wildlife information for the county of Cumbria. Tullie House Museum, in its role as a local natural history museum, has collected and disseminated records of wildlife in Cumbria since its inception in 1893. From the early 1990s the Museum has developed a computerised database of species and habitat records in Cumbria and has taken the central role in providing a local biodiversity data service for the county. This role was restyled as Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre (CBDC) in 2010, a not-for-profit organisation hosted by Tullie House Museum and advised by local stakeholders.
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreSunday, June 28th, 2026 at 12:16am
Final day of #CumbriaWildWatch

Your last chance to contribute to wildlife records in Cumbria - used to inform nature recovery, planning & development, land management, education and research.

Do something AMAZING for nature - tell us what you see!

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreFriday, June 26th, 2026 at 10:13pm
Day 3 of #CumbriaWildWatch

Spend 10 minutes in green space in Cumbria recording your wildlife observations - and send then to us via an app or our online form. Gardens, parks, coast or fell - help us achieve 2,000 observations this weekend.

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreThursday, June 25th, 2026 at 9:23pm
Day 2 of #CumbriaWildWatch

What will you see today? Tells us what animals, plants, fungi you spot to help build up a better understanding of what is found where in Cumbria...

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, June 24th, 2026 at 8:01pm
go!

#CumbriaWildWatch 2026 has started! Log your wildlife sightings to help us better understand Cumbrian biodiversity - especially during the #heatwave.

Find out how to take part:
https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, June 24th, 2026 at 6:25am
get ready....

#CumbriaWildWatch starts at midnight and runs to 28 June. Help us to better understand the wildlife of Cumbria by recording animals, plants and fungi in your local green space.

You can record on iNaturalist, iRecord, download a spreadsheet or submit an observation form. Find out more by searching for Cumbria Wild Watch.

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/recording-wildlife/share-your-records/cbdc-online-records-form/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreTuesday, June 23rd, 2026 at 5:44am
on your marks.....

#CumbriaWildWatch starts on 25 June. Log your wildlife sightings using #iNaturalist or #iRecord as we try to better understand biodiversity in this glorious county!

We have created an iNat project and iRecord activity which should automatically pick up any records created on either app but you might also want to join the project/activity to see how the Wild Watch is progressing.

https://irecord.org.uk/join/cumbria-wild-watch-2026
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/cumbria-wild-watch-2026