The UK Bioacoustics Working Group is a cross UK forum that brings together specialists from government bodies, country nature conservation bodies, academia, non-governmental organisations and commercial organisations to coordinate and advance the use of bioacoustics for environmental monitoring.
The group emerged through collaborative discussions within the UK Terrestrial Evidence Partnership of Partnerships (UKTEPoP). Interest in acoustic monitoring has grown rapidly in recent years, driven by low deployment costs, potentially reduce observer bias and an expanding range of detectable taxa.
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Mission
The UK Bioacoustics Working Group provides a forum to coordinate and advance the use of bioacoustics for environmental monitoring. By fostering collaboration, aligning methods, and sharing knowledge, the group seeks to strengthen the positive impact of bioacoustics research across the UK.
Objectives
The group’s core objective is to provide a mechanism for sharing updates and discussing common priorities. The intention is that this will:
- Encourage bioacoustic-specific interests through…
- Promoting the development and standardisation of bioacoustic monitoring protocols across different ecosystems and taxa.
- Facilitating data sharing and interoperability of bioacoustic datasets and analytical tools.
- Encouraging innovation in the use of AI for species identification and soundscape analysis.
- Exploring integration of bioacoustics with other monitoring methods (e.g. visual surveys, eDNA).
- Provide benefits of group-working such as...
- Reducing the risk of duplicating effort between agencies or creating inconsistent approaches across the UK.
- Helping ensure the right involvement in any more in-depth follow-on discussions, and collaborations on areas of shared interest.
- Raising awareness of opportunities and ongoing work.
- Helping share knowledge and experiences.
- Supporting capacity building through training, workshops, and shared resources.
- Where appropriate, contributing to steering and review of development work that is of interest to multiple group members.
Group Focus
The Working Group centres on bioacoustics for environmental monitoring. Initially, the scope covers terrestrial and freshwater environments, ensuring manageable discussions and clear thematic focus. Marine topics or wider applications may be included where relevant.
The group’s purpose and scope will be reviewed regularly to ensure it continues to add value and complement other initiatives.
Membership
The UK Bioacoustic Working Group is convened by JNCC as part of the Terrestrial Surveillance Analysis and Development (TSDA) Partnership with BTO and UKCEH.
The core Working Group is attended by the following organisations:
- Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust
- Bat Conservation Trust
- British Trust for Ornithology
- Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI
- Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
- Joint Nature Conservation Committee
- National Biodiversity Network Trust
- National Museums NI
- Natural England
- Natural History Museum
- Natural Resources Wales
- NatureScot
- Nottingham Trent University
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
- University College London
- University of Bristol
- University of Edinburgh
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