Woodland assessment surveys

 

This programme involves the collection, analysis and spatial modelling of woodland data at forest, regional and national levels for a variety of purposes.  The main task is the National Inventory of Woodland and Trees, but other, one-off, surveys may be carried out.  This is currently the principal means of measuring whether the Forestry Commission’s mission to ensure sustainable forest management and expand Britain’s forest and woodland cover is being achieved.  The NIWT survey goes far beyond recording woodland size, species, area and age.  It includes many factors related to forest management, timber potential, tree damage and vegetation structure.  The survey is GIS based and can be used in conjunction with data from other land datasets.  Work for the now completed 1995-2002 cycle of NIWT is described in Forestry Commission Information Note 8.  The results are published in a digital map of woodland in Britain and a series of local and country statistical reports.  Forest Research is currently consulting about their detailed proposals for the next cycle.

Development of survey methodology is an important part of the programme, for example incorporating new techniques in remote sensing, and testing new survey and data capture technology.

Commissioned reports

No reports available at this time