Presentation from West Weald Landscape Project Conference 22 May 2014

2. The evolving evidence base at the
heart of landscape scale initiatives
Henri Brocklebank
Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre

3. 2 ingredients….
The origins of conservation mapping

5. 1: 50,000 OS Maps

6. 10 years ago

8. This map is based upon or reproduced from Ordnance Survey
material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of
the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationary Office © Crown
Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown
copyright and may lead to prosecution or other civil proceedings.
West Sussex County Council 100018485 2007.
East Sussex County Council 100019601 2007.
Where appropriate, The Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre would like to acknowledge
the following dataset providers: Natural England (RAMSAR, SAC, SPA, NNR, SSSI,
ancient woodland, vegetated shingle and saline lagoon data), East Sussex County
Council (LNR, SNCI, country park, heathland and notable verge data), West Sussex
County Council (LNR, SNCI, country park, notable verge, chalk grassland and
heathland data), Brighton & Hove City Council (SNCI & LNR data), The Environment
Agency (grazing marsh, urban areas, and hydrological data), The Farming & Rural
Conservation Agency (ESA data), South Downs Joint Committee (chalk grassland
data), The National Trust (NT properties data), Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT reserves
data), Sussex Otters & Rivers Partnership (Black Poplar data), and Dr. Francis Rose
(ghyll woodland data).
8 years ago

10. 6 years ago

11. Contemporary conservation mapping:
3 ingredients….
1. Raw data
2. Derived data
3. Culture

12. Contemporary conservation mapping:
1. Raw data (Quality and accessibility).

14. When the Project started 18% of the Sussex part of the West Weald was
covered by Ancient Woodland (according to the provisional ancient
Woodland inventory). This compares to 8.7% for West Sussex.

15. Revised data (2009) shows that 19.2% of the Sussex part of the West Weald is
covered by Ancient Woodland (compared to 10.5% for West Sussex).

20. What has happened to the raw data since the West
Weald Baseline Report?
• Master map background is now standard, facilitating cross border working.
• Natural England has promoted habitat data standards which are now used
throughout the UK.
• Detailed Geological data now more readily available from the British Geological
Survey.
• Hydrological and Water Framework Directive data developing fast and more
accessible.
• Species recording less adhoc and more structured. Increase from 80,000 to
181,000 records in five years.
• More accessible Historical data (tythe and OS)

21. Contemporary conservation mapping:
2. Derived data (availability and ease)

29. Basic principle of model building in GIS is to build a
grid. 50 meters for current models.

30. Models are based on Model-builder which is part of Arc
10 software and is based on the principles depicted in
the second diagram.

32. What is the trend in derived data since the
West Weald Baseline Report?
• More non-biodiversity raw datasets available to use
• Access to complex modelling tools through standard GIS
Packages
• More processing power from computers
• Technologists and conservationists working together

33. Contemporary conservation mapping:
3. Culture (sharing best practice and open
sourced systems).

37. Has the bio-informatic culture changed since
the West Weald Baseline Report?
• More experience and best practice to be shared (across sectors)
• Mass of documentation available online
• Online systems facilitating data sharing
• Open source systems
• Developing Local Record Centre network and GIS facilities within
organisations

38. Raw Data Derived data
Culture

39. Raw Data Derived data
Culture

40. Raw Data Derived data
Culture

41. Raw Data
Derived data
Culture

42. What does this mean for landscape scale
initiatives?
• Data to help shape conservation aspirations
• Products to support funding bids and decision
• Landowner advice targetting mechanisms
• Clear messages
• Decisions based on evidence
• Increasingly cost effective