In accordance with the regulations of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, and the resultant Code of Practice for Statistics, as a producer body of Official Statistics JNCC is required to maintain a list of the Official Statistics produced, their availability, and production timetables.
JNCC publishes Official Statistics on species population trends derived from several of our national biodiversity monitoring programmes. JNCC also collaborates on the Defra-led production and publication of Biodiversity Indicators, published as Accredited Official Statistics compendiums.
Announcements of upcoming publication dates and dates of previous publications of JNCC Official Statistics and Defra Official Statistics are available on the central Research and Statistics page.
JNCC Official Statistics – upcoming and previous publication dates
Defra Official Statistics – upcoming and previous publication dates
The list below describes each of the Official Statistics that are produced by JNCC or in collaboration with JNCC, together with links to the publication pages.
Official Statistics on species population trends published by JNCC
JNCC is a partner organisation in a number of national biodiversity monitoring schemes that produce population trends for individual species surveyed under each scheme. From each of the schemes, population trends for those species where data meet the required standards of quality and robustness are published by JNCC as Official Statistics. These species trends are used, among other purposes, to assess the conservation status of the species, to inform conservation action and evaluate its success, to provide data for national and international reporting at species level, and to feed into other Official Statistics publications.
Most of the population trends are published annually, with some being periodic. Where there is a specific time-limited conservation or reporting need, individual species trends may be published ahead of the annual statistics release either as early release or as provisional, with the definitive trend being included subsequently in the main release.
JNCC hosts the following Official Statistics publications derived from these biodiversity monitoring schemes:
Population trends for breeding birds in the UK
Frequency: Annual
This statistic reports population trends for 119 breeding bird species in the UK, and where adequate data exist, in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, based on data collected by the Breeding Bird Survey. In addition to a long-term (28-year) trend, 10-year, 5-year and 1-year trends are given.
Produced by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in partnership with JNCC and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Population changes for breeding seabirds in the UK
Frequency: Annual (with some pauses in publication in recent years)
This statistic reports on changes in abundance and productivity for regularly breeding UK seabird species. These are derived from data collected by Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP) volunteers and professional surveyors. Country-level figures are given where sufficient data are available to produce them.
Produced by British Trust for Ornithology in partnership with JNCC and in association with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The SMP is supported by a network of organisations that form an Advisory Group.
Population trends for wintering waterbirds in the UK
Frequency: Annual
This statistic reports 25-year and 10-year population trends for 52 species and populations of waterbirds wintering in the UK and in each UK country, based on data collected by the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) and Goose and Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP).
Produced by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in partnership with Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), NatureScot and JNCC.
Population trends (site alerts) for non-breeding waterbirds on Special Protection Areas (SPAs) of international importance
Frequency: Every five years, depending on funding
This statistic, based on Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) data, reports on population trends of waterbird species within Special Protection Areas (SPAs). Significant declines in designating species trigger an SPA-specific Alert.
Produced by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in partnership with JNCC.
Trends on abundance of butterflies in the UK
Frequency: Annual
This statistic reports on trends in the abundance of 58 species of butterflies at UK level, and at country level where sufficient data are available, based on data collected by UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS).
Produced by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Butterfly Conservation in partnership with JNCC.
Population trends for bat species in the UK
Frequency: Annual
This statistic presents long-term (25-year) and short-term (5-year) population trends for 11 of the UK’s 17 breeding bat species (nine individual species and one group of two species), based on data collected by the National Bat Monitoring Scheme (NBMP).
Produced by Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) in partnership with JNCC.
Provisional Cormorant population indices for England
Frequency: Annual
This statistic presents provisional indices based on Cormorant data from England, showing changes in the Cormorant population since the late 1980s, based on data collected through the BTO/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). The finalised trend will be included as part of the main annual waterbirds Official Statistics.
Produced by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in partnership with JNCC.
Population trends for Turtle Dove in the UK and England
Frequency: Annual
This statistic reports population trends for turtle dove in the UK and England, based on data collected by the BTO/RSPB/JNCC Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). This trend will be included as part of the main annual BBS Official Statistics.
Produced by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in partnership with JNCC and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Biodiversity Indicators and Defra Official Statistics
Indicators enable us to track and measure changes that are happening in our environment. They provide us with the means of describing the state of the environment and seeing the bigger picture of the change that is happening. The production of indicators brings together environmental data from different sources. It is based on analyses of datasets that combine data and trends on a range of species or other environmental features to generate the evidence base for identification and understanding of the environmental change we see and the drivers behind it.
JNCC hosts the suite of UK Biodiversity Indicators, with each indicator focusing on a specific range of species, habitats, ecosystems and other environmental factors that between themselves describe the state of our environment and how it is changing.
The monitoring data on birds and butterflies, from which the species trend Official Statistics are produced, also contribute towards analyses that produce aggregate trends for suites of species (e.g. butterfly species defined as woodland specialists, or bird species that specialise in farmland habitats). These composite trends for birds and butterflies feed into the UK Biodiversity Indicators, and are also highlighted in a separate suite of Official Statistics published by Defra and used to show whether our natural environment is being managed sustainably.
Indicators of Soil Health for England
Frequency: TBC
This official statistic in development provides national estimates of soil health, where soil health is defined as soils’ contribution to the delivery of ecosystem services. It includes interim baseline data for soils’ influence on reduction of runoff risk for surface water flood prevention; soil carbon, and soils’ influence on long term carbon storage; and soils’ influence on sustainable arable crop provision.
Produced by JNCC under contract to Defra.
UK Biodiversity Indicators
Frequency: Annual
This release and publication reports on the UK's progress towards meeting international biodiversity goals and targets, including those set out through the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This publication is led by Defra and produced and published in collaboration with JNCC.
Wild bird populations in the UK and England
Frequency: Annual
This publication presents an assessment of overall change in bird populations since the earliest date for which survey data are available and over the latest five years that survey data are available. These composite trends are calculated for all bird species alongside trends in six finer categories (breeding birds on farmland, woodland, wetlands, and uplands, and seabirds and wintering waterbirds) and utilise data from a range of sources, including BBS, WeBS, GSMP and SMP.
The bird population indices are published by Defra in conjunction with BTO, JNCC and RSPB.
These composite trends contribute to the UK Biodiversity Indicators.
Butterflies in the United Kingdom and in England
Frequency: Annual
This indicator presents an assessment of change in overall butterfly population abundance since the monitoring started in 1976 and for the most recent 10-year period. These composite trends are calculated for two suites of butterfly species: habitat specialist (woodland and farmland) species and species of the wider countryside.
Produced and published by Defra in conjunction with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Butterfly Conservation, in partnership with JNCC.
These composite trends contribute to the UK Biodiversity Indicators.
Published: .