Contract: Definition and mapping of open mosaic habitats on previously developed land: phase 2 testing methods and developing the habitat inventory
Client: Defra
Open Mosaic Habitats on Previously Developed Land (OMH) are found mainly in urban and formerly industrial areas and have high biodiversity value. This value includes rare plants, mosses, lichens and a large number of rare invertebrates, especially bees, wasps and beetles. Between 12% and 15% of all nationally-rare and nationally-scarce insects are recorded from OMH sites. One of the other key features of OMH is the unusual groups of plants present; combinations which are often unique to OMH and currently little studied.
Because of the biodiversity importance of OMH the habitat was identified as a Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in 2007. However, such sites are threatened by redevelopment (due to their usual status as brownfield sites), inappropriate ‘restoration’, inappropriate management or natural succession. There is very little knowledge of the distribution of OMH, as there are no data that identify OMH sites at a national level.
exeGesIS were awarded this project in 2011, which will increase understanding of OMH in England by identifying the key features that are found within such habitats and enhancing knowledge of the distribution of such sites. This will involve a survey of 100 survey sites to identify OMH habitat, as well as a significant survey of invertebrates on 50 of the sites. These surveys will provide invaluable information on the importance of OMH sites to conservation and the recognition of important sites remotely and in the field.
The results of this work will be:
- A handbook for the identification and survey of OMH sites.
- A provisional national inventory of OMH sites in England.
- An OMH survey database and user guide.
- An integrated OMH survey website, which will aim to be a complete solution for OMH identification and survey at a national level.
- An OMH survey implementation plan, to ensure the on-going survey and update of the inventory with new OHM data.
- Field survey data supplied to the NBN Gateway.
As part of this project we are currently undertaking a consultation. Please feel free to complete our online questionnaire.
Further information from Mike Lush.
Contract: Establishing the condition and monitoring baseline for non-SSSI broad, priority and Annex 1 woodland habitats in England and Wales
Client: Defra
In 2010 exeGesIS was awarded this high-profile two-year contract to develop a condition monitoring methodology for non-statutory woodlands. The long-term aim of this project is to gain an insight into and monitor woodland condition in non-statutory sites. The project has three key strands:
- The development of a survey methodology that can rapidly and effectively assess the status and condition of non-statutory woodland habitats in England and Wales.
- The development of a sampling strategy, to identify a representative sample of woodland sites upon which to test the survey methodology.
- An assessment of landscape change in woodland cover in the immediate vicinity of the survey sites, making use of modern aerial photographs and historic data.
The project will also involve implementing the survey methodology on 100 sample sites across England and Wales. The main outputs from the work will be a woodland condition assessment manual, a full project report and baseline data on the condition of non-statutory woodlands in England and Wales.
A project summary can also be viewed on Defra's website. Further information from Mike Lush.
Contract: Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) Consultancy
Client: Brecon Beacons National Park
Having worked for the Countryside Agency as part of a consultancy team managing the ROWIP pilots across England, we have developed considerable experience in this area and have recently brought this to bear on a ROWIP scoping and planning contract for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.
Utilising funding support from the Countryside Council for Wales, the Authority asked us to develop a detailed structure for their ROWIP, a delivery plan and an outline of the scope and content. We also developed an estimate of the resources that the Authority would need to successfully complete the task, and looked at relationship between the ROWIP and the range of other statutory and other plans that guide and refine the Authority's work.
Detailed discussions with Authority staff both one to one and through a working group was combined with a detailed analysis of existing PROW information, existing strategies and a thorough review of the legislative requirements to inform our draft scoping document. The final report, agreed with the Authority has now been used to secure the necessary resources and to guide the ROWIP officers in their work.
Further information Jon Young.
Contract: Rights of Way Survey
Client: Cornwall County Council
exeGesIS has undertaken 25,000 km of PROW survey over the last three years and have built a network of trained and experienced path surveyors. Although presently working on several path inventory and condition surveys, our largest contract is a 100% survey of the 4,500km network of paths in Cornwall.
We were awarded the contract in the spring of 2004 and following detailed discussions with Cornwall rights of way staff on the detailed survey methodology and condition assessment standards, we appointed and trained a 5 strong survey team.
Utilising our ‘Path Surveyor’ System with integrated GPS and camera, the surveyors are making excellent progress and we are scheduled to complete on time this Autumn.
As part of the project, we are providing the Council with CAMS V5, fully populated with the results of the survey. We will also spend several days producing detailed analysis and reporting of results, including full upgrade maintenance cost calculations.
Further information Jon Young.
Contract: CROW Act - Lost Ways
Client: The Countryside Agency
Working with the Countryside and Community Research Unit of Gloucester University and other specialist consultants exeGesIS has contributed to a major contract on 'Lost Ways' research.
'Lost Ways' is the name given to a project to uncover and reassert all rights of way that are not presently recorded on definitive maps. A requirement brought into focus by the CROW legislation that will extinguish unrecorded historic rights by 2026.
The research addressed the full range of logistical and resource issues that arise from the task of meeting the 2026 deadline and also generated the estimate that the total length of Lost Ways in England and Wales is likely to be around 18,000km. A fully interactive web mapping system was built and demonstrated as a solution to the substantial task of coordinating and managing the research process on some 8,000 new paths. It is probable that such a system will be at the heart of the delivery of this work over the next 20 years.
Contract: Wales's rights of way condition survey 2002
Client: Countryside Council for Wales
The CCW contracted exeGesIS to design and deliver a survey to establish the condition of the path network to provide estimates of the resources required to properly maintain public rights of way in Wales. The project comprised a core survey using professional surveyors and supplementary survey with volunteers. A sophisticated and rigorous sampling system was developed and 3,283 km of rights of way were surveyed across Wales.
The quality of core survey data was optimised through the use of hand-held computers linked to Global Positioning Systems and the automated downloading of data directly to a central database eliminated errors that might otherwise have arisen during a manual transfer process. Advanced spatial analysis of the survey data was achieved using GIS.
Results showed that the frequency of serious problems (i.e. those that render a path unusable) along the network ranged between authority areas from 1 every 1.75km, to 1 every 400m. Nationally the frequency was 1 every 650m. It was concluded that the public rights of way in Wales were generally in poor condition and that this was preventing the full realisation of sustainable tourism, amenity use and the generation of potential health benefits to users.
Conclusions were drawn about the limitations of some existing approaches to monitoring network condition and recommendation made to improve annual monitoring surveys through the use of more rigorous sampling regimes, the convergence of evaluation standards and the adoption of a new 'best value performance indicator'.
Further information contact Jon Young .