Case Study: The National Forest Company achieves detailed habitat mapping for wildlife conservation with Ordnance Survey

The National Forest Company - Customer Case Study

The National Forest Company (NFC) is leading a 200 square mile woodland creation across central England and needed highly accurate GIS mapping to model existing and potential woodland and ecological networks, analyse habitat connectivity for plants and animals, and prevent fragmentation that could strand vulnerable species. To address this, NFC worked with Ordnance Survey and accessed OS MasterMap through the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA).

Ordnance Survey supplied OS MasterMap data, enabling habitat units to be based on MasterMap polygons rather than manual digitising from raster maps. The solution delivered more detailed, reliable mapping, automatic identification of features (buildings, gardens, roads), and faster digitising—taking hours instead of days—along with reliable monitoring and reporting and licence-fee savings of hundreds of pounds a year.

The National Forest Company

Sam Lattaway

Head of Landscape