National Map of Trees Outside Woodland Canopy Cover

A vector map identifies canopy cover over 3 meters tall and 5 square meters in area located outside formal woodland boundaries. The dataset was produced by the Forestry Commission's Forest Research unit using automated spatial algorithms on satellite and lidar data, with a first release in 2025. It classifies canopy cover into lone trees, groups of trees, and small woodlands.

Use Cases

• Quantify area of lone trees, groups of trees, and small woodlands for local authority green infrastructure reporting.
• Analyze spatial distribution of canopy cover outside woodlands to model habitat connectivity for wildlife.
• Validate and complement the National Forest Inventory by identifying tree cover in non-forest land parcels.
• Assess potential misclassifications by cross-referencing map features with known locations of static caravans or solar farms.

Strengths

• Production method is fully automated with no manual editing, ensuring consistency.
• Dataset has undergone quality assurance via DEFRA science protocols and accuracy assessment using ground truth data.
• Derived from multiple authoritative sources including the National Lidar Survey and Sentinel-2 imagery.

Limitations

• First release version; methods and quality are under review for the next year with potential changes.
• Automated classification may misclassify objects like shipping containers or coastal cliffs as tree canopy.
• Spatial accuracy is dependent on the underlying OS mapping data, which may not include all features.

Provenance

Source

Forestry Commission (Forest Research), funded by DEFRA's Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme.

Collection Method

Derived from the Vegetation Object Model, National Lidar Survey, and Sentinel-2 imagery using automated spatial algorithms.

Freshness

Data last updated on the platform in April 2026, representing a first release.

Geography

National coverage for the United Kingdom.