UNITED KINGDOM · ENGLAND · HABITATS · WOODLAND
Ancient Woodland
What this layer shows
Woodland continuously present since 1600. 'Ancient & semi-natural' has never been cleared; 'ancient replanted' (PAWS) is an ancient site replanted, often with conifers: both are irreplaceable habitat in planning policy.
Where the data comes from
ARCGIS · services.arcgis.com
Merestone asks this service live for the area on screen. Nothing is copied or stored beyond a short cache.
Facts shown for each feature
Woodland type · Status · Area (ha)
In these presets
Essentials
What is protected here: the statutory designations, across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus ancient woodland. This is what the map opens with, and what Default puts back. It is a starting point, not a limit: every other layer is one tap away in the list below.
Desk study
The statutory designations an ecologist checks first: SSSI, SAC, SPA, Ramsar, National and Local Nature Reserves across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus ancient woodland and priority habitat. This is the opening move of a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal, what is protected on or near the site. Statutory sites are commonly scoped to 10 km and habitat inventories to 2 km, guidance sets no fixed distances, so set the radius to suit the project.
Woodland
Everything wooded: the Ancient Woodland Inventory and its revision, deciduous woodland, traditional orchards, wood pasture and parkland, and the National Forest Inventory. Ancient woodland is irreplaceable habitat under the NPPF, so its boundary, and whether the revised inventory moved it, is usually the first thing a client needs to know.
Botanical
Built for a botanical survey or NVC walkover: every priority grassland, heathland and the Botanical Value Map, with SSSI and ancient woodland for context. These are the habitats where the species list is the point: unimproved calcareous and acid grassland, lowland meadows, upland hay meadows, purple moor grass and rush pasture, and the heaths. Turn it on before a site visit to see which compartments deserve the most time on the ground.
Net gain
Habitat and connectivity for biodiversity net gain and offsetting work: the National Habitat Network, the full Priority Habitat Inventory, Local Nature Recovery Strategy areas, registered gain sites, ancient woodland, open mosaic habitat on previously developed land, agricultural land classification and live Environmental Stewardship agreements. The question this set answers is where a gain would actually connect to something.
Forestry
The checks behind a felling licence or a woodland creation application: ancient woodland and its revision, the National Forest Inventory, the live felling licence register, EWCO low-sensitivity land, the 1891–1914 historic woodland maps, wood pasture, deciduous priority habitat, and the statutory designations that constrain felling and planting: SSSI, SAC, SPA and Ramsar.
Other layers in this group
- Ancient Woodland Inventory (Scotland)
- Native Woodland Survey (Scotland)
- Caledonian Pinewood Inventory
- National Forest Inventory (Scotland)
- National Forest for Wales
- Traditional Orchards (Wales)
- Wood Pasture & Parkland (Wales)
- Historic Woodland 1891–1914
- Lost Historic Woodland
- Ancient Woodland (revised counties)
- Deciduous Woodland
- Traditional Orchards