Suffolk’s wildlife data is at your fingertips. SBIS holds over six million biological records covering species, habitats and protected sites across the county, gathered over decades by our network of volunteer recorders and partner organisations.
We can search our database for any location in Suffolk – and beyond, thanks to our agreements with neighbouring record centres – and deliver clear, usable results to support your work. Tell us what you need using the form below, and we’ll be in touch with a quote.
Make a data request
1. Submit your request using the form below
2. Receive a quote from us, usually within 2 working days, and valid for 6 weeks
3. Confirm your order using the link in your quote
4. Receive your results within 2–10 working days
About our data searches
- Prices
Our services are provided free of charge for some non-commercial uses. This includes neighbourhood planning, community wildlife projects, conservation projects, etc. Please send details of the intended data use, and we’ll do our best to make data freely available.
Our charges to ecological consultants and other commercial users reflect the time we spend collating, processing and analysing the data, not a fee for the information itself.
Commercial Data Enquiries
(Prices from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027)
Standard data request Number of sites Price (+ VAT) 1 (standard) £171.00 2 £316.35 3 £461.70 4 £607.05 5 (maximum) £752.40 Single species data request Number of sites Price (+ VAT) 1 (standard) £88.00 2 £162.80 3 £237.60 4 £312.40 5 (maximum) £387.20 For a batch search, simply add up to five search parameters to the form.
Custom data requests, please select custom search on the form for a personalised quote
- If we find no data within your search area, we won’t charge you.
- If the search needs more time than quoted, you will be informed before further charges are incurred.
- Payments will be requested by invoice from the Suffolk County Council.
- We work through requests in the order we receive them and aim to deliver results within 5–10 working days. For commercial searches, we'll typically have your results to you within 2 working days of receiving your order confirmation.
- The information we need
- Where would you like us to search? You need to provide a grid reference, site boundary, linear route or address and postcode.
- What size area would you like us to search within? Normal searches are 500m to 2km in radius, but this can be customised to suit your needs. We can also provide different-sized areas within one search request, for example, we could search within a 500m radius for species records and a 2km radius for site records.
- What information do you require? Our standard search includes a map showing designated sites and record locations; County Wildlife Site and GeoSite citations; spreadsheet records of Protected, Locally Scarce and Rare species, Schedule 9 species and Veteran, Notable, and Ancient Trees.
Data request searches can be tailored to your needs by including additional datasets (e.g. habitat data) or providing data in GIS format. Please contact us to discuss customised data requests.
- What to expect in a standard report
Example of the PDF map we provide, showing some of the features included in the results Designated Sites
Your report includes a PDF map showing the boundaries of statutory sites (such as SSSIs and Local Nature Reserves) and non-statutory sites (such as County Wildlife Sites and County GeoSites) within your search area. Where County Wildlife Sites or GeoSites are present, we also include their citations – summary descriptions of the features that make each site significant.
Example map showing designated site boundaries as a PDF. More general information about protected sites in Suffolk can be found on our Protected sites page.
Example County Wildlife Site showing information in an excel spreadsheet Protected, Locally Scarce and Rare Species
Example Protected, Locally Scarce and Rare species spreadsheet The results supplied will only include records of tetrad (2 km grid) or greater accuracy and will be filtered to remove duplicates, so a particular point only shows the most recent record of a species.
The data covers legally protected species – including Badgers, Bats and Great Crested Newts – alongside Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) and Suffolk Rare plant species. We hold records across all the major taxonomic groups. Please note that if you request a single species search for “bats”, we will provide records for all bat species within your requested search area.
These records are represented by black stars on the pdf map provided.
Schedule 9 Species
Example Schedule 9 Species spreadsheet Schedule 9 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act lists non-native plants and animals that have become established in the wild in Great Britain and pose a risk to native wildlife. The Act makes it an offence to release these animals or plant these species in the wild.
Some native birds also appear on Schedule 9 – including Barn Owl and Goshawk – where the listing is intended to prevent the release of captive-bred individuals that could weaken wild populations. For more information please visit the Non Native Species Secretariat website.
These records are represented by red circles on the pdf map provided.
Ancient, Veteran and Notable Trees
Example Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees spreadsheet This is a combination of two datasets, the SBIS Veteran and Notable Trees and the Woodland Trust's Ancient Tree Hunt survey. Please note that neither dataset has complete coverage across Suffolk, so these records are indicative rather than comprehensive.
These records are represented by pink tree symbols on the pdf map provided.
- About the East of England Standard Data Enquiry Service
Since 2011, record centres across the East of England have worked together to offer a consistent, joined-up data enquiry service. We are members of the East of England Standard Data Enquiry Service, which means that when a search extends into Norfolk or Cambridgeshire, our partner record centres contribute their data automatically – so you only need to deal with us.
Standard enquiries for data within a defined search area from regional record centres across the East of England will:
- Include records of species of conservation concern
- Include a map of statutory and non-statutory site boundaries
- Not incur a charge if no records are found
- Be completed within 10 working days (usually sooner)
- Include the most recent data held by the LRC
- Be sent out in your preferred format (Excel/Word tables, GIS files, pdf or jpg) subject to licensing restrictions
- Provide records from Cambridgeshire or Norfolk if the search area spans a county border, without incurring further charges (applies to the East of England region only).
Regional record centres
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Environmental Records Centre
Essex Biological Record Centre/Essex Field Club - no cross-boundary agreement. For searches that extend into Essex, you will need to contact the Essex Biological Record Centre separately.
- Terms and policies
Our data is provided under specific terms and conditions, and we ask all users to read these before placing an order.
Our Data request terms and conditions set out the conditions of supply, including permitted uses of the data we provide and the basis on which charges are made.
Our Data use and sharing policies explain how we manage, share and protect the biological records we hold, and what you can expect when you receive data from us.
If you have any questions about either document, please get in touch before placing your order.