The Biological Records Centre (or BRC) is the group responsible for recording and keeping records on fresh water and terrestrial species in the UK. It was founded in 1964, and is funded by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), within the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
In addition to the national organisation with this name, there are also local biological records centres ("local records centres") within the UK. These have a complementary role as systems "for collating biological data from a wide range of sources (including organisations and individuals), for ensuring that data are properly validated and catalogued, and for providing access to them, thereby acting as a focus for biological information."[1] These local records centres are largely autonomous and typically organised on a county or multi-county basis. Increasingly they are becoming better networked through the activities of the Association of Local Environmental Records Centres, the National Biodiversity Network, Natural England, The Wildlife Trusts partnership and the National Federation for Biological Recording.