Countryside Survey
What is Countryside Survey?
Countryside Survey is a unique study or "audit" of the natural resources of the UK’s countryside. The Survey has been carried out at regular intervals since 1978 and is a major project for CEH and its partners. The results of the latest in this UK-wide series of Surveys have now been published, making the whole series even more valuable.
CEH was contracted to carry out the 2007 Survey on behalf of a partnership of funding bodies led by
the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
In this world-leading Survey, the countryside is sampled and studied using rigorous scientific methods, allowing us to compare this year’s results with those from previous surveys. In this way we can detect the gradual and subtle changes that occur in the UK’s countryside over time. Countryside Survey has two main components, the Field Survey and the Land Cover Map (LCM).
How do we use the data?
Examples of some of the applications of Countryside Survey data include:
- Determining the landscape potential for renewable
energy production
- Increasing knowledge of the impacts of nitrogen
and acid deposition
- Determining the quality of freshwater and soil
resources
- Informing hedgerow legislation to encourage
management, planting and protection
- Monitoring for Priority Habitat Action Plans for
arable field margins, hedgerows and some upland
habitats
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Countryside Survey reports
See the Countryside Survey website which contains a wealth of information and detail on the 2007 and previous Surveys. It provides access to the findings, reports, data and analyses from the earlier Surveys, and provides access to the latest findings and data, including:
The UK Countryside Survey Report, published on 18 November 2008
Reports on England, Scotland and Wales
Reports on Ponds, Soils and Headwater Streams
The Countryside Survey Integrated Assessment Report
Land Cover Map 2007
This digital map of land cover and broad habitats, derived from satellite imagery and combined with Ordnance Survey’s MasterMap®, was released on 6th July 2011.
For a copy of the Final Report for LCM 2007, please click here.
For guidance on how to obtain Land Cover Map 2007, please click here.
More information
Visit the Countryside Survey website or contact CEH Enquiries.
See also Land Cover Mapping and Land Cover Map 2007. |
