Surveying Habitats

Habitats come in many different shapes and sizes within your local area. At first you may think your local area has few wildlife habitats, but take a walk and you may be surprised by the diversity. Hedgerows adorned with blackberries; the village green, covered with daisies and buttercups; the churchyard with its ivy-clad walls and large native trees; the village duck pond, which is also home to frogs during the spring; the school playing field with its area of long grass. A basic habitat survey will help you map the habitats within your parish, and can lead to you identifying areas where you can carry out other more detailed wildlife and habitat surveys.


What is a habitat survey?

A habitat survey (also known as a Phase 1 Habitat Survey) will involve walking around your parish to map out the main habitats present such as, woodland, farmland, hedgrows.

The survey will also highlight key features present in the landscape such as ancient trees, ponds and other water bodies. It will also help you build up a picture of what is in your parish and how different habitats can be linked up, for example areas of woodland linked by a hedgerow.


Taking it further…

Your habitat survey can be used to:

  • Identify areas of habitat which may be important for local wildlife.
  • Inspire further surveys on particular features, e.g. hedgerows, ponds or the historic environment.
  • Create a future vision to show how the local area could be improved for wildlife.
  • Inform planners of the important habitats present so that development can take this into account.
  • Work with landowners to manage the parish for wildlife.
  • Update the Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, Norfolk's local records centre with details of the habitats present in your parish.

Why not start a simple survey today?

Alderfen Broad photo by Richard Osbourne 1/3
Booton Common photo by Richard Osbourne 2/3
Ashwellthorpe woodland photo by Richard Osbourne 3/3

Plan your survey…


It is a good practice to work out routes and determine the area you wish to cover before carrying out your survey. It is also very useful to look up your survey area on Google Earth, Google Map  or Bing Map  to view aerial pictures of the site. These pictures will give you a good idea of the habitats you should expect to come across.

 

Take one step at a time…

Split our local area into a number of 1km squares and complete each square before moving on to the next – perhaps involving a group of people to cover a wider area.

Much of a habitat survey can be undertaken from the road or public footpaths, but remember that if you do want to cross private land you must get permission from the landowner beforehand.

 

Equipment

You may find the following equipment useful:
  • Good walking boots or wellies
  • A pair of binoculars to help assess a habitat which you may not be able to get to
  • A map of the area you are surveying on which you can mark your findings and identify where you are! Try to get as large a scale as you can – 1:10,000 will give you room to mark your map easily. Please visit the Ordance Survey (OS) website for all your map needs!
  • Colour pencils
  • Camera (not essential)
  • GPS (not essential)
If you would like to carry out a Phase 1 Habitat Survey please click on 'Find out more'.

What is a Phase 1 Habitat Survey?

The Phase 1 Habitat Classification and associated field survey technique provides a standardised system to record semi-natural vegetation and other wildlife habitats. The approach is designed to cover large areas of countryside relatively rapidly. It presents the user with a basic assessment of habitat type and potential importance for nature conservation.

 

What is the value in carrying out at Phase 1 Habitat Survey?

The information provided in a phase 1 habitat survey can be used to help with effective nature conservation, for example by highlighting the areas in need of special protection, and by providing a clearly defined baseline for monitoring change. The information can also assist local planning authorities and planners in forming policy and strategy for the countryside, and enable them to make well informed speedy planning decisions. Importantly it provides planning authorities with statistics that can be used to support the case for the conservation of threatened habitats, especially in work connected with planning appeals.



How do you carry out your own habitat survey?

The Phase 1 habitat classification and associated in-the-field survey technique provides a reasonaly speedy system to record semi-natural vegetation and other wildlife habitats. Each habitat type/feature is defined by way of a brief description and is allocated a specific name, an alpha-numeric code, and unique mapping colour. The system has been widely used and continues to act as the standard ‘phase 1’ technique for habitat survey across the UK.

Please refer to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) website to find out how to carry out your own habitat survey.