River Habitat Network: Connectivity Maps for Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland habitat network maps for terrestrial and intertidal priority habitats. The vector datasets categorize land based on its favourability for habitat restoration and its effectiveness for enhancing ecological connectivity. The maps were produced in 2020 by a consortium including Ulster Wildlife, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and are intended as a decision-support tool.

Use Cases

• Prioritizing land for habitat restoration based on network categories.
• Modeling ecological connectivity between existing habitat patches.
• Informing spatial conservation planning decisions alongside on-site surveys.

Strengths

• Based on a published methodology from Natural England (Edwards et al., 2020).
• Covers all terrestrial and intertidal priority habitats for Northern Ireland.
• Produced by a consortium of established conservation organizations.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The maps do not represent comprehensive land cover or provide specific management options.

Provenance

Source

Consortium of Ulster Wildlife, National Trust NI, RSPB NI, and Woodland Trust NI.

Collection Method

Mapping based on the Natural England methodology for habitat networks.

Time Range

2020

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Northern Ireland