The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) led the project to map the British landscape vegetation and land cover at an unprecedented scale. The latest UK Land Cover Map (LCM) shows the distribution of different habitats throughout the country at a 25-metre resolution. The impetus for the project is the decline in insect pollinators, with a mandate to compare land cover change to understand this worrying decline.
The LCM 2007 is the latest in a series, with previous versions released in 1990 and 2000. This latest version was derived from satellite images, digital cartography, ground reference data, and other details. The effort maps the entire UK based on the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Broad habitats for monitoring and reporting changes in the countryside. LCM2007 will have many applications including ecosystem service assessment, conservation and landscape planning, carbon accounting, and flood risk assessment.
