A 127 year-old hoverfly which almost disappeared from the wild 26 years ago is among the first insect specimens to be digitised as part of a major new project aimed at tracking changes in biodiversity in Scotland. The Pine hoverfly (Blera fallax), which entered the collection of the National Museum of Scotland in 1899 is among 250,000 insects from the museum and 388,000 herbarium species from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), which will become digitally accessible to all. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK (DisscoUK) project aims to create approximately 700,000 digital records of specimens held in Scotland’s natural science collections over two years. The hoverfly became critically endangered in Scotland and almost disappeared from the wild by 2000 before successful efforts were made to reintroduce it in the Cairngorms National Park. Another species to be documented...

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The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is pleased to announce the completion of the cataloguing of Professor Mary Gibby’s archive! This marks an important first step in preserving and sharing Profe...

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) will become the first botanic garden in the UK to introduce British Sign Language (BSL) films featuring newly

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A five-year restoration project saw thousands of rare species moved and replanted at the Edinburgh site.

National Museums Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) have announced a major digitisation project to document Scotland's biodiversity. Starting this summer, the project aims to create approximately 700,000 digital records of specimens held in Scotland’s natural science collections. The initiative will initially run for two years and will make more than 250,000 insects from National Museums Scotland and 388,000 herbarium specimens from the botanical garden digitally accessible to all. New project aims to create 700,000 digital records of specimens held in Scotland’s natural science collections Four further partners are already engaged in the project – Glasgow Life, the Hunterian, Shetland Museum & Archives, and the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen. “This project brings together Scotland’s exceptionally rich natural science collections in a united effort to mobilise the biodiversity records they hold," said project co-lead Professor Olwen Grace , deputy director of science (collections) and curator of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's herbarium. "Drawing on the leading herbarium digitisation approaches at RBGE, the project will boost digital heritage in Scotland and help to ensure the broadest diversity of the UK’s collections are made accessible online." The initiative will create a network to add Scotland to the Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK (DiSSCo UK) project, a 10-year national programme to digitise and connect the UK's natural science collections. New project will make more than 250,000 insects from National Museums Scotland accessible to all “DiSSCo UK presents an unequalled opportunity to reveal the British and Irish species in our collections," Grace added. "Digitising brings recent and historic records of the country’s biodiversity together in a new way, making important information available for looking after nature in future." Co-lead Dr Nick Fraser , keeper of natural sciences at the National Museums of Scotland, said: "Having these records digitally available will allow us to unlock the critical information that these collections hold about changes in biodiversity over time and the impact of climate change on diverse ecosystems both here in Scotland and across the world."

The historic Victorian palm houses at the Royal Botanic Garden (RBGE) in Edinburgh are to reopen in the autumn after a five-year restoration project.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a world-renowned scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation.