My recent work on Noctule distribution in south east Scotland (when I get a moment I'll write an update on it) clearly showed how disjointed biological recording is at present. Common understanding of the distribution of this species north of the border turned out to be at odds with reality, once an effort was made to gather records from all possible sources and to address shortfalls. It's relatively easy to do this with a charismatic mammal species, but what about the thousands of other species, for whom we have disjointed and poorly collated distribution information?
BRISC (Biological Recording in Scotland) have placed a petition on the Scottish Parliament website, calling for action to be taken to address this, so that planning and conservation decisions can be made on the basis of full and appropriate information.
Please take a moment to sign the petition. it doesn't matter if you're not resident in Scotland - your opinion still counts.
http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/view_petition.asp?PetitionID=291
Thanks
