Forestry Commission signs framework agreement with Infoterra

Infoterra , a leader in the provision of geo-spatial products and services, has been named preferred supplier in a framework agreement with the Forestry Commission to provide a detailed digital map of woodland cover across Scotland, England and Wales.

The agreement provides for Infoterra to contribute to two major research projects being undertaken by the Commission. One is the update of its National Inventory of Woodland and Trees (NIWT), which quantifies and locates the woodland resource across all three countries; the other will be used in Forestry Commission Scotland's Native Woodland Survey, which is working to compile for the first time a definitive dataset on the extent, location and nature of native woodland across Scotland.

Using the latest geo-spatial information, the Infoterra team will provide a digital map of more than 2 million hectares of woodland. This map will give the Forestry Commission an accurate understanding of woodland coverage where, what type and how much woodland exists - which will help it to assess change and develop plans to meet new EU Directives and other national and international policy commitments.

This up-to-date information, when compared against older data, will help to track environmental change over the last decade in key areas such as native woodland extent, habitat loss and gain, and carbon storage.