Marine Recorder Online
We have developed Marine Recorder Online (MRO), a primary data management system for UK marine data which mainly focuses on biodiversity and benthic sampling data set up for the UK’s statutory nature conservation bodies and other governmental and non-governmental organisations.
Why develop MRO?
Managing data from UK waters
MRO was built for the marine sector, specifically the UK statutory nature conservation bodies and partners, to collate and manage data and provide high quality and up-to-date information to data archives.
Data is automatically fed into the UK Archive for Marine Species and Habitats Data (DASSH) operated by the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN), where it is publicly available. It is then distributed by DASHH to the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
Expertise in marine data solutions
In developing MRO, our Data Solutions team have demonstrated their expertise in marine data design and management.
The legacy data alone has been gleaned from more than 300,000 samples, producing more than 300,000 biotope and 4,000,000 species records and involving more than half a billion data points.
The system enables more data to continually be added, custodians to manage and control their data within their individual tenancies, and further functionality to be developed.
Who supports MRO?
Data is provided by each of its stakeholders, with data sets covering the entirety of UK waters. The 11 existing data custodians are:
- Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR)
- Dorset Wildlife Trust
- Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
- Marine Biological Association (MBA)
- Seasearch (Marine Conservation Society)
- Natural England
- Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
- NatureScot
- Porcupine Marine Natural History Society
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
The first data were loaded onto MRO in spring 2025. When legacy data have been successfully migrated, new and up-to-date data will be accessible to everyone via MEDIN, in line with the core concept of open data.
JNCC is also seeking prospective data custodians to join the MRO partnership.
Are you interested in Marine Recorder Online?
If you’d like to know more about Marine Recorder Online, contact us.