Mammal records captured from Licence Returns submitted to Natural Resources Wales

Quality Control

Records are provided by licence holders, who may have variable recording ability. The dataset has been subject to some basic validation to eradicate location errors, and random cross-checking between the licence return forms and the electronic data was carried out following data entry. However the records have not been systematically verified by local experts. The records are all labelled with a Cofnod verification Level of Considered Correct by Cofnod, as they come from a trusted source, which equates to a Verification Status of Accepted. Details of Cofnod’s system of Dataset Categorisation and Record Verification are given within relevant Cofnod policies.

Method steps

1. Licence return forms are completed by licence holders as a condition of receiving the licence. Licences are issued to organisations and individuals to permit activities which would otherwise by unlawful, such as deliberately capturing or disturbing scheduled species, or damaging or destroying their breeding sites and resting places. Licences are generally issued for the purposes of survey, monitoring and research, or for building and other development work. Records from survey, monitoring and research licence forms were entered onto the Cofnod Online Recording System.

All Wales. However, the dataset does not represent a systematic coverage or survey of Wales. Location of records is generally random, depending on the requirements of the licence holders.