National Forest Inventory: UK Woodland Map and Forest Type

All forest and woodland in Great Britain over 0.5 hectares is mapped annually, with a minimum canopy cover of 20% or the potential to achieve it. Woodland areas are classified into interpreted forest types like Conifer and Broadleaved using aerial photography and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. The dataset includes areas of new planting, clearfell, windblow, and restock, but excludes small woodland patches under 0.5 hectares.

Use Cases

• Monitoring afforestation and deforestation based on annual boundary and canopy cover updates.
• Assessing forest composition and health using interpreted forest type (IFT) classifications.
• Planning conservation or commercial forestry activities using spatial data on woodland extent and open areas.
• Analyzing the impact of grant schemes by cross-referencing new planting information from national forestry bodies.

Strengths

• Annual updates ensure the map reflects recent changes like new planting and windblow.
• Uses multiple authoritative data sources, including Sentinel-2 imagery, aerial photography, and grant scheme records.
• Applies a consistent, detailed definition of woodland (minimum 0.5 ha, 20% canopy cover, 20m width).

Limitations

• Metadata for size, row count, license, and specific column schema is unavailable across all sources.
• Woodland areas smaller than 0.5 hectares are excluded, though a separate survey covers them.
• Sources provide conflicting temporal references for source imagery (e.g., spring/summer 2020/2021 vs. 2024).

Provenance

Source

Forestry Commission, incorporating data from Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, and Natural Resources Wales.

Collection Method

Interpretation of aerial photography and satellite imagery (Sentinel-2), combined with administrative records from grant schemes and sub-compartment databases.

Time Range

Financial years 2020/2021 to 2023/2024 are referenced for new planting, with annual updates.

Freshness

2026-04-07 (based on a platform 'last updated' field, though this may reflect metadata refresh rather than data currency)

Geography

Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales)