Website terms of use

By using this website, you agree to these Terms and Conditions of Use.  If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

Do not use this website if you are under 13 years of age.

Who we are

The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) assesses trends in the abundance of butterfly species within the United Kingdom. It is run and funded in partnership by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the British Trust for Ornithology, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC):

• UKCEH is a wholly owned research centre of the Natural Environment Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
• Butterfly Conservation is a charity dedicated to halting and reversing declines in butterflies and moths. Registered Charity Number 254937 (England & Wales), SCO39268 (Scotland).
• British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an independent charitable research institute combining professional and citizen science aimed at using evidence of change in wildlife populations, particularly birds, to inform the public, opinion-formers and environmental policy, and decision-makers. Registered Charity Number 216652 (England & Wales), SC039193 (Scotland).
• JNCC is the public body that advises the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation.

The UKBMS also benefits from a number of ‘Transect Coordinators’, ‘Wider Countryside Champions’, and BTO ‘Regional Organisers’, who are volunteers on behalf of the above organisations to support other volunteers in participating in the UKBMS.

The UKBMS partners are joint controllers for the purposes of the UKBMS website (hereafter referred to as UKBMS partners).

Personal data

The basis on which we process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to use, is covered by our privacy notice.

Non-personal data content

When you use this website, you create and upload content - for instance, wildlife observations, photos of wildlife, your descriptions of it, and messages to the forums.  By putting this information on the site, you are saying that:

1. the content is yours, or you have the permission of the owner to agree to this usage
2. you agree that the content can be used on this site
3. you agree that your wildlife observations (including photos) can be made publicly available for wider use and may be shared with other relevant data users (see below)
4. you agree that your records will be available to expert verifiers acting on behalf of recording schemes and projects, who may contact you in connection with those records, and may add comments or add a corrected species identification to the records
5. Verified observations will be made available via the NBN Atlas.  UKBMS data will be collated alongside other data and made available via the NBN Atlas by the relevant national recording scheme, or will be provided directly via the NBN Atlas in a dataset administered by the Biological Records Centre and/or the relevant national recording scheme.  If you do not want your observations to be made available in this way, please do not submit them.

In order to support conservation and research, all biological records submitted to the UKBMS will be made available to the relevant National Recording Schemes and Societies (as recognised by BRC, and including any county recorders associated with such schemes and societies) based on the species recorded.

Records will also be made available to other organisations with a bona fide use for biological records.  This includes the following organisations and may be extended to other organisations in future: Local Environment Record Centres, Country Nature Conservation Bodies, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the National Trust, the National Trust Scotland, the Woodland Trust, the National Biodiversity Network (via their Atlas websites), and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Where sites and/or species are deemed to be “sensitive” the record may have its location blurred, or may be treated as confidential. Lists of sensitive species may include, but may not be limited by, lists agreed with the UK government conservation agencies.

Accuracy of information

The information in this website is given in good faith and for general information and interest only. It is subject to change without notice. UKBMS partners are not responsible for any inaccuracies and makes no representation and gives no warranty as to its accuracy.

The information in this website should not be relied on and does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation. By using this website you confirm that you have not relied on any such information. Any arrangements made between you and any third party named or referred to on the website are entirely at your sole risk and responsibility.

Nothing on this website is intended to be nor should be construed as an offer to enter into a contractual relationship.

Linking to the UKBMS website

The UKBMS partners welcome and encourages other websites to link to the information that is hosted on these pages. You do not have to ask permission to link but wording and linking graphics can be requested if necessary by emailing ukbms@ceh.ac.uk

Links from this site

Links and frames connecting this site with other sites are for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement or approval by the UKBMS partners of those other sites, their content or the people who run them. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and have no control over the availability of linked pages or their content.

It is the responsibility of the Internet user to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information found at sites linked from this website.

Virus protection

We make every effort to check and test material at all stages of production. It is always wise for you to run an anti-virus program on all material downloaded from the internet. We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system which may occur while using material derived from this website.

Cookies

We want to make the UKBMS website easy to use, useful and reliable. This involves placing small amounts of information on your computer or mobile device in small files known as cookies. This website uses cookies to maintain your browsing session and enhance site functionality, and to monitor the usage of the site with Google Analytics. This information helps us to maintain website performance and support funding. Read more about how Google manages the data it collects. Your web browser has settings which allow you to manage these small files yourself by removing or blocking cookies. Learn more about them through advice on the AboutCookies website.

Disclaimer

All information provided by the UKBMS partners on its website is made available to provide immediate access for the convenience of interested persons. While UKBMS partners believe the information to be reliable, human or mechanical error remains a possibility. Therefore, UKBMS partners do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or correct sequencing of the information. Neither UKBMS partners, nor any of the sources of the information shall be responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the use of or results obtained from the use of this information.

Changes to these terms

These terms may be updated from time to time (current version is 1 March 2021). The latest version will always be available at www.ukbms.org/terms_of_use. If changes are made to these terms in the future, a prominent notice will be posted on the website.