Scottish Natural Heritage(SNH) reports that the wildlife and landscape of Scotland’s wildest and most remote islands, moorland and mountain ranges are set to be understood better through ground breaking new mapping technology pioneered by SNH, helping also to tackle climate change and manage upland habitats.
SNH writes:
The innovative method for mapping our upland habitats is being pioneered in the UK by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). It uses a technique developed in Sweden known as ‘stereo colour infrared (sCIR) aerial photo interpretation (API), which uses imagery taken from aeroplanes.
Sally Thomas, SNH’s Director of People & Nature, said: ‘This technology really is a game changer for our work in some of the remotest parts of Scotland. Healthy peatland is a key factor in tackling climate change. It holds onto carbon, preventing its release into the atmosphere to trap heat from the sun. This cutting edge technique means we can identify prime locations for our peatland restoration work. It can also help us to manage woodland expansion, and it’s great news for protecting our diverse upland habitats: as well as the widespread heaths and bogs there are many small, fragmented and internationally rare habitats, such as important calcareous grasslands and juniper scrub.’
Using high resolution imagery with infrared information reveals colour and texture differences in vegetation. A range of indicators reveal detailed habitat such as blanket bog, wet grasslands and bracken. SNH has developed this technique for upland habitats and tested the method on a wide range of habitat types. The report of the successful pilot, which took place over two 100 km2 areas in the Cairngorms and near Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve, was announced at a major conference on geographic mapping and analysis in Perth today.
Kath Leys, Ecosystems & Biodiversity Manager for SNH said: ‘There are around three million hectares of upland habitat still to be mapped – about one third of Scotland. Using current field based methods this would take a large team of surveyors many years, due to the short season when they can get out on the ground in these remote areas, whereas this more desk based approach can continue throughout the year. Our pilot of this cutting-edge technique has delivered accurate results much more quickly and at less than half the cost.’
SNH is leading a multi-partner project to produce a comprehensive Habitat Map of Scotland (HabMoS). Partners in the HabMoS project are currently considering the next steps to secure funding to complete the upland mapping work.
