Ancient Woodland Inventory for England: 53,637 Habitat Polygons

53,637 polygons map the geographic extent of ancient woodland habitat in England, covering approximately 364,971.81 hectares. The dataset, created by Natural England and partners, distinguishes between Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland, Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites, and Ancient Wood Pasture and Parkland. It serves as a primary reference for habitat location, though an ongoing revision process means updated data for some counties is available in a separate dataset.

Use Cases

• Modeling biodiversity and habitat connectivity based on ancient woodland locations.
• Assessing land-use change and development impacts on protected woodland habitats.
• Planning ecological restoration for Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS).
• Studying the distribution of veteran trees within Ancient Wood Pasture and Parkland (AWPP).

Strengths

• Contains 53,637 distinct spatial polygons for detailed analysis.
• Covers approximately 364,971.81 hectares of mapped habitat.
• Differentiates between specific ancient woodland types (ASNW, PAWS, AWPP) as described.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the source platform and inventory methods.
• The dataset is part of an ongoing revision, requiring cross-reference with a separate 'completed counties' dataset for the most current information.

Provenance

Source

Natural England, Ordnance Survey, Woodland Trust, Forestry Commission, and other partners.

Collection Method

Spatial inventory compilation, likely from historical maps, surveys, and remote sensing.

Time Range

Woodlands identified as continuously wooded since at least 1600 AD.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-29 12:01:21.456319; freshness should be verified.

Geography

England, excluding the Isles of Scilly.