The purpose of this website is to be an information resource and peer-support portal for users of MapMate, the biological recording software. MapMate is a well-known software package in the UK for biological recording and mapping, particularly among amateur naturalists and local recording groups.
On retirement of MapMate during November 2024, there were many rumours on the Internet that MapMate would just stop working once all subscriptions expired. These were debunked; MapMate will continue to run on all Microsoft Windows platforms up to the current version, Windows 11.
In the event MapMate does not work on future releases of Windows, a Virtual Machine such as VirtualBox can be utilised to install a supported release of Windows on which to run MapMate. In due course, there will be a support page describing the process.
There are also concerns with respect to synchronised patch updates of the main Taxa Library. It is hoped in due course the patching utilities will be passed on for our use ; however, this isn't guaranteed. The alternative is to manage centrally MapMate's Taxa Library and distribute it as a downloadable ZIP file from this website.
The Taxa Library table, TaxaLibrary.MDB, which contains all known taxa from the British Isles is pivotal to MapMate. Without updates, MapMate would become obsolete to all apart from those with the technical abilities and know-how to update their own tables. Currently, Les Evans-Hill is the central point of contact for Taxa Library updates. Please email Les for details.
The next Taxa Library update will be late January 2026, after publication of the annual British Lepidoptera Checklist updates in the Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation.
The excellent resource hosted by the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland is available here.
There is an active Facebook group which is open to membership to anyone.