By Elizabeth Mitchell, senior officer for engagement and impact, and Chris Burstow, geospatial principal officer, both Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme
Where in England could nature do best, and how can we help wildlife move between habitats? Natural England's Habitat Network Maps, built on 27 priority habitats, suggest where to create new corridors, stepping stones and larger habitat patches. A major update has just been published, so we look back at why the maps were created, how they are already shaping Local Nature Recovery Strategies, nature-based solutions and private investment in Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), and what has changed in the refresh.
The Habitat Network Maps
If we want to identify areas where nature could thrive in England, the Habitat Network Maps are a good place to start.
Based on existing maps of 27 priority habitats that underpin England's biodiversity, they suggest areas for expansion to help encourage habitat resilience – new corridors, stepping stones, or simply larger patch sizes.
And with a major update recently published, now feels like an excellent moment to look back at how the maps are shaping nature recovery planning across England.
Why did we create the Habitat Network Maps?
One vital strand in the maps’ origin story is the influential 2010 review led by Sir John Lawton, ‘Making Space for Nature’, which called for the most valuable habitats across the country to be 'better, bigger, more, and more joined-up'. It’s a report which is still widely cited, with its more detailed recommendations seeded through the Environment Act and the Environmental Improvement Plan, and embedded through much of Natural England’s operational activity. But to bring the report’s recommendations to life at a strategic, national scale we need large-scale, location-specific data – and this is where the Habitat Network Maps come in.
The first version of the maps was published by Natural England in 2020, while the work undertaken for this update was funded by the UK government under the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme (NCEA).
Two individual network maps, showing opportunities for enhancing (left) ancient semi-natural woodland and (right) lowland meadows.What have the maps been used for so far?
The maps have been used in a variety of ways:
Local Nature Recovery Strategies across the country have combined the maps with local data to help target conservation and restoration efforts in the places likely to have the biggest impact for nature and people, including in Cumbria, Hampshire, and Worcestershire. Oxford University’s Agile Initiative have used the maps in their Nature Based Solutions Evidence Platform, to map habitat opportunities in places which maximise benefits and minimise trade-offs for nature-based solutions outcomes. The platform uses the maps to help identify suitable locations for interventions such as restoring peatlands, or creating woodlands, grasslands, wetlands and ponds. The maps have also been taken up by the private sector, including within Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) markets. For example, Tellus Natural Capital have used them to identify opportunities to restore a chain of upland hay meadows across a cluster of farms in Cumbria. Upland hay meadows are one of the rarest grassland types in the UK, and it is estimated that only about 900 hectares remain. Habitat Network Maps data is helping to design a project to improve the connectivity of the meadows, which could be funded through statutory BNG or by other private investment. The maps have also been used to create an equivalent tool for Northern Ireland. A group of stakeholders including Ulster Wildlife worked together to adapt NE's Habitat Network Maps to make them appropriate for Northern Ireland’s distinct landscapes, combining upland and lowland categories and adjusting the habitats to create 24 Ireland-specific layers Duddon Mosses NNR, looking onto the Duddon Estuary, Cumbria. The maps help us understand where we could restore and connect complex and fragmented Priority Habitats. Credit: Sam Ross, Natural EnglandWhat’s new in this update?
As part of the recent update, the maps have been comprehensively refreshed using the latest datasets, including the Priority Habitats Inventory, Wood Pasture and Parkland Inventory, Agri-Environment Schemes data, Environment Agency flood zones, and Priority River Habitat headwater data.
Significant improvements to the mapping tool now offer greater flexibility, including allowing users to set custom geographic extents and select appropriate grid sizes. Grassland selection by soil type has also been enhanced.
Following consultation with Natural England habitat specialists, some individual habitat networks have been combined to better reflect current ecological understanding. Single networks – such as blanket bog, lowland meadows and ancient semi-natural woodland – remain distinct, while others now combine previously separate categories: coastal habitats, calcareous grasslands, heathlands, fen and reedbed habitats, and rivers and lakes.
These updates, informed by user feedback and scientific review, ensure the mapping is more accurate and practical for conservation planning.
The updated maps combine individual habitat layers which are often associated with one another, such as these coastal habitats on the Lincolnshire-Norfolk coastline. The combined map shows all Priority Habitats in a single layer.The Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme
The Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme is assessing England's land, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems to produce a baseline of our natural assets by 2029, enabling a natural capital approach to policy and decision-making. As well as the Habitat Network Maps, it has provided vital support for several related mapping and data tools allowing us to better understand and manage our habitats, including the Priority Habitats Inventory, Ancient Woodland Inventory, and England Peat Map.
seen at 11:42, 12 November in Natural England.