| News
Farmers and the environment to benefit as
Ordnance Survey creates new data layer of hedges
373, 919km of England’s farmland hedges have been accurately mapped to create a new digital dataset, OS Landscape
Features Layer.
73, 919km of
England’s
farmland hedges
have been
accurately
mapped to create
a new digital dataset, OS
Landscape Features Layer, which
will be used by the Rural Payments
Agency (RPA). The new dataset
will play an important role in the
Rural Payments Agency’s
administration of the Common
Agriculture Policy (CAP).
3
“It’s been a fascinating project
using new technology to deliver
a vital dataset that supports our
government colleagues and
their customers (the farmer)”
The CAP Regulations require
effective administrative controls to
be established, and for hedges
declared as Basic Payment
Scheme (BPS) Ecological Focus
Areas (EFAs), this means creating
a control layer of mapped hedges
against which subsidy claims can
be checked. The aim of the project
was to automate the identification
and mapping of hedges in a
repeatable business process using
imagery and height data products,
and producing consistent results
that are far more effective than
costly manual data capture.
The hedgerow’s value has risen
in recent times, due to its capacity
to protect against soil erosion and
help reduce pollution, and with its
increasing use in water supply
management and flood control.
The hedgerow manages to do all
of this while still being home and
larder to a rich collection of
insects, birds and mammals. The
mapping of hedges is beneficial to
other environmental policy areas
such as the Rural Development
Countryside Stewardship Scheme,
where the management and
improvement of hedges are key
options for improving the habitats
for invertebrates and overwintering birds.
In the Autumn of 2014, the RPA
asked Ordnance Surve