National Forest Inventory Wales 2022: Woodland Map and Forest Type Classification

A geospatial dataset mapping all forest and woodland areas in Wales over 0.5 hectares with at least 20% canopy cover, updated annually. The data classifies woodland into 16 interpreted forest types and non-woodland areas into 11 open area types, using Sentinel 2 satellite imagery and aerial photography from spring/summer 2022. It is produced by the Forestry Commission with reference to Ordnance Survey MasterMap.

Use Cases

• Land cover change detection based on annual updates of woodland boundaries.
• Forest type classification and analysis based on the 16 interpreted forest type categories.
• Habitat connectivity modeling based on spatial data for woodland areas over 0.5 hectares.
• Impact assessment of forestry management (e.g., felling, windblow) based on specific land cover categories.

Strengths

• Includes all woodland areas meeting a defined minimum size (0.5 hectares) and canopy cover (20%) threshold.
• Provides detailed classification with 16 forest type and 11 open area categories.
• Updated annually with changes identified using Sentinel 2 imagery and aerial orthophotography.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Forestry Commission, via the Government Digital Service and eu_open_data platform.

Collection Method

Interpretation of Sentinel 2 satellite imagery and aerial orthophotography, combined with grant scheme and sub-compartment database records.

Time Range

Primarily 2022, with updates incorporating information from the 2021/2022 financial year.

Freshness

Updated annually; data reflects conditions from spring/summer 2022 imagery.

Geography

Wales, United Kingdom.