UNITED KINGDOM · IRELAND · SPAIN · PORTUGAL · FRANCE · NETHERLANDS · BELGIUM · GERMANY · SWITZERLAND · FINLAND · CANADA (BRITISH COLUMBIA)
Know what protects a site
before you walk it.
Merestone puts the official environmental designations of eleven countries on one map: protected sites, habitats, heritage, flood and planning constraints, live from each government's own open data. Built for ecologists, planners, land agents, surveyors and anyone who works outdoors.
WHAT YOU GET
The official data, without the fifteen browser tabs.
A designation check normally means a slow government web map for each agency, one country at a time. Merestone is the same authoritative data on one fast map, each shape opening its record and, where the publisher provides one, a link to the official page.
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
Merestone for iPhone, iPad and Mac
The app is the one that is finished, tested and kept up to date. It keeps working with no signal in the field, searches a radius around any point, and writes the desk study for you. This website is newer, and it is catching up to it.
iPhone · iPad · Mac · Apple Watch
This is the finished app. The website is the part that is still being built.
Live from the source
Almost every layer streams from the publishing agency's own service, and the date each answer was fetched is shown. A few nationwide layers in Spain, Portugal, Germany and Switzerland are the European Environment Agency's annual return of what each country reports, and say so on their page.
Tap anything for its record
Each shape opens its record: names, codes, areas and condition, with a link to the publisher's own page wherever the publisher provides one.
Presets that answer a real question
Desk study, woodland, flood, heritage, Condicionantes, Contraintes: one tap switches on the set of layers a professional reaches for first.
Licensed properly
Open Government Licence, CC BY, Licence Ouverte: every layer carries its licence and attribution, and layers whose publisher does not permit re-use are held back rather than shown.
Your language, your country
English, Spanish, European Portuguese, French, Dutch, German and Italian, with each country's own designation names kept exactly as the law writes them.
The app for the field
The iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch app adds offline downloads, radius search and the desk-study PDF. Link your App Store purchases to your Merestone account and they work here too; sign in to the app and purchases made here work there.
COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
Eleven countries, each on its own terms.
Each country is built from its own agencies and its own vocabulary, never a translation of another's. The free tier is the statutory core across the UK and a starter set in each other country; Merestone Pro unlocks the rest of a country for good.
Ireland
63 layers · 12 free
Switzerland
72 layers · 9 free
France
107 layers · 6 free
Netherlands
35 layers · 1 free
Belgium
184 layers · 4 free
Germany
94 layers · 6 free
Finland
150 layers · 4 free
Canada (British Columbia)
29 layers · 2 free
United Kingdom
256 layers · 52 free
Portugal
64 layers · 8 free
Spain
49 layers · 3 free
PAY ONCE, OR SUBSCRIBE
Buy a country and keep it. Or subscribe to every country.
Merestone Pro is a one-off purchase per country, yours for as long as Merestone exists. Merestone Worldwide is a subscription covering every country, including the ones added later. Both are the same price here and in the app.
PLAIN FACTS
What it is, and what it is not.
- Merestone is an independent product. It is not affiliated with Defra, Natural England, NatureScot, NRW, NPWS, MITECO, ICNF, the Ministère de la Transition écologique or any other public body.
- Boundaries should be verified against the official source before professional reliance. Every layer names its publisher and its service, and links to the publisher's own page for the designation where one exists.
- The website shows what the services answer right now. The app is the one that works with no signal and keeps what you downloaded.
COMMON QUESTIONS
About Merestone
What is Merestone?
Merestone maps the official environmental designations of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Canada (British Columbia), with each country's known gaps listed openly. Almost every boundary is drawn live from the service of the body that publishes it, so you see what that body currently publishes; a few nationwide layers are the European Environment Agency's annual return of what the country reports, and say so on their page. It is free to start, and a single payment unlocks a whole country.
Which countries and designations does it cover?
11 countries: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Canada (British Columbia). It carries 1103 live layers, 107 of them free, including SSSIs, SACs, SPAs, Ramsar sites, national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscapes in England), ancient woodland and flood zones.
Where does the data come from?
From each country's own public open-data services, such as Natural England, NatureScot, Natural Resources Wales, DAERA, the NPWS, MITECO and the autonomous communities, the ICNF and APA, France's INPN and IGN, the Dutch PDOK services, Belgium's SPW, Brussels Environment and the Flemish agencies, for Germany the European Environment Agency with Land authorities in 13 of the 16 Länder, from LANUK to Hamburg's BUKEA, and for Switzerland the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), swisstopo and the cantons through geodienste.ch. Every layer names its publisher and its service, and links to the publisher's own page for the designation where one exists.
Is Merestone free?
Yes, to start. 107 layers are always free. Merestone Pro unlocks a whole country for a single payment, and Merestone Worldwide is a subscription that covers every country, including ones added later.
What is the difference between the website and the app?
The website opens the map in any browser with nothing to install. The iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch app adds offline use, a radius search around any point and a downloadable desk-study report.
Is Merestone affiliated with any government?
No. Merestone is an independent product, not affiliated with any government body. It presents official open data and names the publisher and service of every layer.