Deciduous Woodland Habitat Network for Nature Recovery in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland habitat network maps for deciduous woodland, produced in 2020 by a consortium including Ulster Wildlife and the National Trust. The vector datasets categorize land based on its potential for habitat restoration and connectivity enhancement. The maps are intended as a decision-support tool, not a replacement for on-site ecological surveys.

Use Cases

• Prioritizing land for woodland restoration based on network connectivity potential.
• Assessing landscape-scale habitat connectivity for conservation strategy.
• Informing spatial planning decisions to support biodiversity targets.
• Identifying areas favorable for the creation of new deciduous woodland habitat.

Strengths

• Based on a published methodology from Natural England (Edwards et al., 2020).
• Produced by a consortium of major conservation organizations.
• Covers all terrestrial and intertidal priority habitats in Northern Ireland.
• Available as ESRI Shapefile vector data for GIS analysis.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The maps do not represent comprehensive land cover or provide specific management options.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Consortium of Ulster Wildlife, National Trust NI, RSPB NI, and Woodland Trust NI, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Collection Method

Mapping based on the Natural England habitat network methodology.

Time Range

Project started in 2020.

Freshness

Last updated date is unknown.

Geography

Northern Ireland