Report 349
Collation and Mapping of data for the Irish Sea Pilot
(2004)
Report to Defra by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Lumb, C., Webster, M., Golding, N., Atkins, S. and Vincent, M.A.
© Defra 2004
Executive Summary
This report sets out the aims of the data and mapping element
of the Irish Sea Pilot and the experience of acquiring data from
partner organisations. It considers some of the key issues arising
from this work and develops a series of Irish Sea Pilot
recommendations for data collation and mapping. The report includes
a catalogue of the spatial data sets acquired.
Data collation & mapping
The Pilot identified and prioritised those data sets that were
considered most relevant to testing the marine nature conservation
framework. Data on coastal boundaries, geophysical and
hydrographical characteristics, protected areas, natural resources
and human uses of the Irish Sea were acquired and mapped using a
geographic information system (GIS) (see data catalogue, Annex 1).
Public, private and non-government organisation (NGO) sector bodies
contributed data and some were collated by contractors or used
under license. Difficulties were encountered in obtaining habitat,
species and human activity data associated with lack of
availability, incompatible formats and cost. There was reluctance
of both public agencies (because of internal costs) and private
sector (commercial value) data holders to release information. Data
acquisition was continued beyond the scheduled deadline (31 March
2003) to address some of the difficulties but was concluded at 31
May 2003 in order to move on to other tasks. The information
available on habitats, species and human activities was patchy or
of poor quality. Complete Irish Sea coverage was not obtained for
some data topics. Many of the data sets identified and collated by
the Pilot would be needed to inform regional sea planning and
management, but the catalogue is not intended to comprehensively
scope data requirements for this purpose.
Consultation
A wide consultation on the report was undertaken during August
and September 2003. Responses to the consultation have been taken
into account in this final report and recommendations.
Conclusions and recommendations
Strategic, ecosystem based and sustainable planning and
management of human activities in the marine environment is
dependent on access to appropriate and adequate information and
data. The Pilot collated geophysical, hydrographical, nature
conservation, ecological and sectoral human use data and used GIS
analysis. While intertidal and near-coast biological information
was found to be satisfactory, data were sparse for most offshore
localities to a degree which would constrain good decision-making.
Furthermore, some survey data were not available to the Pilot,
either because they were held in an inappropriate format or because
the data owner declined to release it.
The recommendations from the report of the Pilot on
data collation and mapping are:
- A standard electronic marine and coastal map/chart base
should be established, extending seamlessly across the coastline,
which can be used at a range of scales from the Regional Sea
(1:1,000,000 or less) to local level (1:10,000 or greater).
Consideration should be given to a strategic funding mechanism to
enable the necessary harmonisation.
- A national marine information network should be
established, based on harmonisation rather than integration. There
is likely to be a key role for a number of institutions and bodies
having the capability of managing data in the long-term, and
providing public access to it, each managing and providing access
to specific datasets to common standards. Data standards should be
developed, where possible jointly with the other countries
bordering Regional Seas and with the European Union, in order to
facilitate the establishment and operation of this system. A
mechanism to co-ordinate this will need to be
established.
- All marine data collected with public funds, or as a
consequence of Government or Public agency contracts, should be
held electronically to agreed formats and standards and placed in
the public domain within specified timescales. These data should be
contributed to a national marine information system once
established. Public funds made available to universities, research
institutes or other organisations should be subject to these
conditions.
- Environmental data collected by the private sector for
the purpose of complying with a regulatory procedure (e.g. for
Environmental Impact Assessment) should be collected to agreed
formats and placed in the public domain within specified
timescales.
- Improved co-ordination of data collection activities
needs to be achieved, including in relation to research activities,
in order better to meet the needs of society and to make the most
efficient use of available resources. This should include much
clearer identification of the specific data collection
responsibilities of public bodies. In the UK, Defra should take the
lead in developing improved co-ordination, including in relation to
liaising with neighbouring countries. A greater degree of
collaboration between survey organisations should be promoted and
encouraged.
- Information on the sources, availability, extent and
attributes of datasets (comprehensive metadata) for the marine
environment needs to be easily and widely
accessible.
You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this
document.
Please cite as: Lumb, C., Webster, M., Golding, N., Atkins, S. and Vincent, M.A., (2004), Collation and Mapping of data for the Irish Sea Pilot, JNCC Report 349