Riparian Woodland Scotland is a geospatial dataset identifying woodland within 20 meters of watercourses across Scotland. It was created by the Scottish Government via SpatialData.gov.scot by combining and validating multiple existing datasets, including the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland, Smallwoods dataset, and National Forest Inventory. The dataset was last updated on 2026-07-08.
Use Cases
- Modeling riparian buffer zones for water quality protection based on the 20-meter search area.
- Assessing native versus non-native woodland composition near waterways based on the included woodland types.
- Mapping habitat connectivity for biodiversity conservation based on the minimum woodland patch size of 2000m².
- Validating or augmenting national forestry inventories using the combined source datasets mentioned.
Strengths
- Integrates multiple authoritative sources, including the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland and the National Forest Inventory.
- Defines a consistent search buffer of 20 meters either side of watercourses.
- Includes manual validation steps using aerial imagery and height data for additional areas.
- Applies a minimum patch size of 2000 square meters for included woodland areas.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count and total geographic scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- The underlying watercourse data is a combination of line and polygon datasets, which may affect width representation for larger rivers.
Provenance
- Source
- Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
- Collection Method
- Combination and manual validation of existing open datasets (Native Woodland Survey of Scotland, Smallwoods dataset, National Forest Inventory) using aerial imagery and height data.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-08 13:32:39.670442; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Scotland