New Habitat Map for Wales

Environment Systems is playing a key role in the production of a new and up-to-date Habitat Map of Wales as part of a partnership with the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and Aberystwyth University. The project which will be complete by March 2012 will have its public launch at a special event held in the National Museum of Cardiff on 2nd November.

The natural environment is important, especially to a largely rural country like Wales. It not only creates employment and income but also provides us with the services and life support systems so vital to our continued prosperity. Water supplies, food production, energy and timber are just some of the services that rely on the continued healthy diversity of plants and animals which the new Habitat Map will help to monitor.

The original survey of all Wales’ wildlife habitats – from grassland and woodland to coastal heath and limestone pavement was created by a team of CCW biologists roaming the length and breadth of Wales and took nearly 20 years to complete. It only became available as a digital mapping layer in the early 2000s. Over the years much has changed across the Welsh landscape but the previous map is still being used.

The new map seeks to address this by using the latest satellite and remote sensing technology which enables it to be created in a fraction of the time and cost. Some of this work is pioneering, producing habitat maps that will be the most comprehensive both spatially and in terms of the number of classes mapped. By using satellite data it has been possible to take an ‘all-Wales’ approach, which not only provides continuity in data capture and mapping but also supports new ‘ecosystem’ approaches to decision making over a wide range of areas such as conservation and climate change. This is entirely inline with the recently launched Natural Environment Framework (NEF).

The new mapping is based upon remote sensing data from optical sensors, primarily SPOT, ASTER and IRS. Using eCognition® object-oriented segmentation, a computerised method of extracting information from imagery, it has been found that the data from different sensors, if properly pre-processed, can be integrated into a single classification scheme to provide detailed maps of habitats across Wales. An additional benefit of this approach to mapping is that regular updating can take place using the same rule-set and can also be used to look back in time in order to monitor change. When the new map is complete Wales will be the first European country to have produced a national map of its habitats using these new technologies and processes.

This mapping project has benefitted from seed funding provided by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the Countryside Council for Wales to investigate satellite based techniques for mapping semi-natural habitats. It has also resulted in a close public-private partnership which continues today. As the commercial service provider Environment Systems continues to invest in research through part-funded PHD studies and works in close collaboration with the staff of Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences. This is helped in no small part by its close proximity to the campus.

To find out more please go to the Project Website or contact:

Steve Keyworth E: steve.keyworth@envsys.co.uk T: +44 (0)1970 626688