En:mapping was employed by Durham Wildlife Services as GIS specialists for the Limestone Landscapes management plan for the Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau National Character Area. The plan outlines a future ecological network and will provide long-term vision for habitat management, creation and restoration within the Natural Area. We were responsible for collating all the spatially-referenced ecological data within the Natural Area and standardising it to assess present status and identify opportunities for habitat creation and reserve expansion through opportunity mapping.

The opportunity mapping involved constructing a theoretical model based around available ecological and physical data, and technical input from habitat specific ecologists. The model used a cost weighting approach to assess linkage in the environment combined with information on physical parameters such as underlying geology, soil scape and slope to predict the likelihood of successful habitat establishment and linkage on each patch of land with the Natural Area.

The results of the opportunity mapping exercise were passed to a stakeholder group. From here five core areas within the landscape were chosen and management plans were drawn up to create and/or restore 450 ha of land within the Natural Area. The resulting Limestone Landscapes report formed a grant application to carry out the habitat creation and restoration works.