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Priority Habitat Inventory

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2023.


Background

The Status of Threatened Habitats addresses the extent of priority habitats and their condition, and showcases the Priority Habitat Inventory, first published by Natural England in 2013. This is a spatial dataset that describes the geographic extent and location of Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) Section 41 habitats of principal importance.

For more detailed information about the construction of this inventory you are advised to visit the download site on data.gov.uk.


OpenLayers

This app uses the latest version of the data: v3.0 (2023). Habitat grouping and styling follows that employed in the document referred to above, which serves as a key. The only difference is that areas where there is 'No main habitat but additional habitats present' are shown white.

The layer appears as the overlay 'Habitat' in appropriate contexts, for example Avon Wildlife Trust.

Although habitat is stored as a vector layer it is so detailed and extensive that it can only be rendered using raster (mapping) services, which are more efficient. If possible zoom in to your area of interest before switching habitat on. You get colour coding to indicate the 'features' in the data (see below), and can click on the map to 'get feature info' from the database. This is a good compromise.


Coastal Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh; Coastal saltmarsh; Coastal sand dunes; Coastal vegetated shingle; Maritime cliff and slope; Mudflats; Saline lagoons
Grassland Calaminarian grassland; Good quality semi-improved grassland; Grass moorland; Lowland calcareous grassland; Lowland dry acid grassland; Lowland meadows; Purple moor grass and rush pastures; Upland calcareous grassland; Upland hay meadow
Heathland Fragmented heath; Lowland heathland; Mountain heaths and willow scrub; Upland heathland
Inland Rock Limestone pavement
Orchards Traditional orchard
Wetland Blanket bog; Lowland fens; Lowland raised bog; Reedbeds; Upland flushes, fens and swamps
Woodland Deciduous woodland
Other Other



Related Layers

SSSI, for condition of habitats.

The Habitat Map of Scotland.

The Terrestrial Phase 1 Habitat Survey of Wales.


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