In the
report, the Woodland Trust claimed that it is not possible to identify how much
ancient forest has disappeared in the last decade.
“Our data
supports The Woodland Trust’s position that ancient woodland has been
disappearing over many years,” confirms Chris Stubbs, Managing Director –
Environment & Mapping at Landmark Information Group: “However, it is
not correct to say that data isn’t available to demonstrate what is being lost
each year. Here at Landmark, we have the data available to show
designated ancient woodland, both historically and today, and can overlay a
range of datasets to show how it has changed over the years.”
By overlaying
historic maps with ancient woodland maps (dating as far back to 1600 in England
and Wales, or 1750 in Scotland), it is entirely possible to visualise any
changes that may have occurred. And by overlaying data from current and
approved planning applications we can identify if proposed or approved future
developments put more ancient woodland at risk.
Continues
Chris: “The data is out there. Our historic mapping is able to reveal the
changes to the natural landscape, with the impact of development being clearly
visible not only for ancient woodland, but also on green belt, Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, nature
reserves, country parks, and many other notable locations.”
Landmark has an unrivalled source of large-scale current and
historic digital maps together with high quality environmental risk and
planning information. Its digital archive of historical maps is the
UK’s largest and most comprehensive, comprising of over one million historical
maps.
Example Ordnance
Survey maps showing an area located in Reading (NGR 466070, 154481)
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