Historic Environment Suitability Map for Woodland Creation in England

England's land areas are categorized by their potential suitability for new woodland based solely on historic environment data. The Forestry Commission created this dataset to guide landowners and planners, with a last update in April 2026. It integrates data from the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) and the non-designated SHINE dataset.

Use Cases

• Classify land parcels into 'Favourable', 'Neutral', 'Unsuitable', or 'Unclassified' opportunity ratings for preliminary woodland planning.
• Identify areas of 'Lost Historic Woodlands' from early 20th-century maps to prioritize potential restoration sites.
• Filter for 'Unclassified (No SHINE supplied)' zones to target areas requiring additional data collection from local historic environment services.
• Cross-reference 'Historic Parklands' data with other land-use layers to assess conflicts for proposed forestry projects.

Strengths

• Covers the entire geographic region of England.
• Integrates two authoritative historic environment data sources: NHLE and SHINE.
• Provides a structured categorical rating system for land suitability.

Limitations

• Suitability ratings are based solely on historic environment factors, ignoring ecological, soil, or economic constraints.
• Contains 'Unclassified' areas with no assigned rating, indicating significant data gaps for decision-making.
• Relies partially on AI-generated feature detection (e.g., Lost Historic Woodlands) which may contain errors.

Provenance

Source

Forestry Commission, integrating data from the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) and the SHINE dataset.

Collection Method

Spatial analysis and categorization of land based on recorded historic and archaeological features.

Time Range

Historic features reference early 20th-century mapping; dataset currency is 2026.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.

Geography

England.