Habitat surveys provide a baseline of the present state of an environment, and as such are valuable tools for recording change over time through development or through habitat restoration works. They also act as a valuable resource for identifying areas of conflict and to mitigate the effects of habitat loss leading to fragmentation and isolation.

Collecting habitat surveys is time-intensive but are very important in the early stages of any project, and therefore it is vital to maximise the quality of the output and convey the information in a robust and concise way. Consequently, en:mapping has prepared a service that enables ecologists to deliver accurate statistics and professional maps (and data) to the client through our habitat mapping service.

As part of the service we:

1. Source the appropriate map data, which within the UK will be 1:10,000 Ordnance Survey maps
2. Provide field recording sheets for fieldworkers to draw the habitat boundaries and any addtional notes
3. Digitise the completed survey maps and attach attribute information such as land classification, notes, surveyor ID, etc
4. Extract accurate habitat measurements (headline statistics), such as area, perimeter, proximity to developments
5. Produce high quality digital output for inclusion in technical reports for the client
6. Provide the GIS data, with associated Metadata for your client as an additional deliverable

We are also aware that some cleints may require only partial aspects of the service and we are consequently able to design a bespoke service that fits your needs, so if you only want the data to be captured (such as for a habitat inventory) then we can accommodate this too.

We are able to provide this service for:

• Phase 1 and extended Phase 1 habitat surveys
• Farm Environment Plans (FEP)
• BREEAM assessments
• National Vegetation Classification (NVC) surveys
• Hedgerow surveys
• Land parcel extraction from aerial imagery
• Habitat inventories at all scales (regional to national)
• Ecological research projects

But we are open to other types of work. Please click here to request a quote for such work or contact the office on 0114 2730062. If you would like to request a fee quote then email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with all the relevant details.

Technical details

All data capture is done with a digitising tablet at a resolution no greater than 1:250 and all data will be mapped onto the 1:10,000 Ordnance Survey dataset (or to a base map of your choice). All data capture and georefrencing will take place within ArcGIS 10. A GIS output can be provided as either ESRI shapefiles or MapInfo tab files.

The final spatial dataset will contain all the relevant supporting information through the attribute information held within the GIS layers and also within the associated INSPIRE compliant metadata. The use of detailed documentation and INSPIRE will greatly enhance the usability of the data in the future - by providing the data holder with as much information as necessary on the source of the data.