#396: Living England 2022-3 Habitat Map

The new Living England 2022-23 habitat map is now live! Download freely from https://t.co/rR1gT2IaPl (coming soon on Magic). It’s more reliable & user-friendly than ever - providing essential habitat data for natural capital monitoring across England. pic.twitter.com/5PmDIHjeli

— NE Chief Scientist (@NEChiefSci) November 12, 2024

Visit the link, and see the details in the technical report.

 

#242: MAGiC Map - a free resource for GIS work

MAGiC is an interactive map. It is produced by DEFRA with a range of other organisations.

The GI stands for Geography Information - it's a GIS.

There are a series of layers of information which can be added to the base map.

Here's a map made by turning on the Habitats > Coastal > Saltmarshes layer, for example. This is very easy to do and students could be asked to explore the map themselves or be given a step by step guide. It would make sense

This map shows the locations of saltmarshes around the Wash.

Similar maps can be created for a whole range of habitats by changing the overlays.

A general guide to the map is available here.

#183: Ordnance Survey survey on mapping and GIS

My hope would be that the new specification will involve an expectation of a deal of mapwork using the Ordnance Survey's mapping, plus ESRI GIS mapping and Survey123 for the collection and visualisation of fieldwork data. They may also need to use the MAGIC map, maps of National Landscapes etc and ensure that location and description of context is an important part when considering the range of habitats and how the landscape and Natural History of the UK has changed over the centuries.

I've been involved with the OS in numerous ways over the years: as a GetOutside Champion, author of support resources for Digimap for Schools and Digimap for Colleges / Mapstream. Also as an author of articles for Mapping News and other support for various campaigns and activities.

For many years Ordnance Survey has delivered support for education to encourage the awareness and use of high-quality geospatial data in the education sector and since 2020 this has been through an Education Plan, funded through the UK Government's Geospatial Commission (GC).
They are keen to gather evidence about how this has so far supported the work of teachers and consider what more they could be doing in this area. 

They would also like to understand what other training tools geography teachers currently access and the barriers that may be in place when using geographic information systems (GIS).

They are asking for 15 minutes (or so) of your time to complete a short survey. 

The survey is open to all geography teachers until Friday 8 December and the findings from it will help them to consider how to develop the Education Plan.

Complete the survey on this link.

#134: Village Green Preservation Society

A guide to finding village greens on MAGiC maps. I've blogged about MAGiC maps before.

Village Greens are one of the entries in Common Ground's 'England in Particular' as well. They are an important element of rural life for many, and also a habitat for wildlife.

Many village greens are protected, as they are part of the landscape character of the area.

The Open Spaces Society protects village greens and similar open spaces.

My own village has a small village green which the local pub has appropriated with tables during good weather. There is a notice board and a few wooden posts to put vehicles off driving onto it. Other local villages have more substantial spaces.

Kate Rusby's version of the song was also the theme music for a comedy series called 'Jam and Jerusalem'.

 

I have a green in my village which is quite small, but is a nice protected space, with seats and a village notice board.

A local green might make an easy destination for a visit and bio-blitz... or to put up a sign inviting local wildlife experts to contact the school if they want to help the students identify their particular area of interest.