Geography in practice: mapping habitat change with Living England

In this webinar, we were joined by Natural England who provided an overview of the ‘Living England’ habitat mapping project, which develops a monitoring framework for habitat change over time.

The session:

• Explained how the Living England Habitat Map was created using extensive field data, satellite Earth observation data, LiDAR and AI to classify 16 broad habitat types across England.
• Described the project’s machine‑learning model, as well as how accuracy and reliability are communicated across the various habitats.
• Highlighted how the mapping project supports national environmental policy, Local Nature Recovery Strategies and many other government mapping projects.
• Covered the emerging work on detecting habitat change over time, outlining the ecological, seasonal and technical challenges of distinguishing real change from natural variability or model changes.

Watch the full recording below.

About the speaker

Dr Amy Woodget a Senior Data Scientist and the Communications and Engagement Lead for the Living England project. Amy has more than 18 years’ experience in Earth observation and geospatial science, including in academia, the public and private sectors.

Amy will be joined by Living England’s Senior Data Scientists and Technical Leads - Becky Trippier, Dr Kieran McCloskey and Dr Joe Jones.

Please note: The views of our speakers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society.

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