#defradata
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owenboswarva.bsky.social
Job – Chief Data and Information Officer at the Rural Payments Agency, choice of locations in England www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

Need to get one of our #opendata operators in here to unlock the Rural Land Register

#geospatial #agridata #defradata
March 17, 2026 at 8:00 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map for England environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/a817... "new and updated version" from Defra

Blog post (scroll down as post is mostly about LandIS) defraenvironment.blog.gov.uk/2026/04/13/u...

#landuse #agridata #soildata #geospatial #defradata #opendata
Figure 4 Predictive ALC map for England. NA Non-agricultural land; U Urban areas
April 14, 2026 at 7:11 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
#FOI release: historical agreements on ownership of LandIS soil map data for England and Wales www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-so...

These docs set out the original arrangements for ownership of intellectual property rights in LandIS, made between 1987 and 2003.

#soildata #defradata not- #opendata
June 30, 2024 at 6:47 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Family Food datasets containing detailed statistics on household purchases of food and drink in the UK have been updated with 2025 data www.gov.uk/government/s...

Annual report www.gov.uk/government/s...

#livingstandards #publichealth #defradata #opendata
September 17, 2026 at 10:33 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Supplier opportunity – Geospatial Enabling Programme Delivery Partner www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/03692... notice of £13,458,300 contract from UK Government, for development of 'Defra Land Model' and related work

#geospatial #govtech #landdata #defradata #opendata -adjacent
Geospatial (land) data is a critical asset for Defra as it provides insight into land use to inform policy decisions that can be distributed effectively to maximize economic growth whilst supporting nature recovery. The Geospatial Enabling Programme can enable delivery of better policy making to deliver our priorities, by resolving issues within the geospatial data landscape and developing the spatial targeting capability. A lack of accurate geospatial (land) data has meant that historically multiple versions of the same area of land exist across Defra group and there are areas of rural land not currently captured in Defra mapping systems. This inhibits effective policy development through spatial targeting due to differing views of the geometry and land use. This also translates into a poor end user experience, where farmers are asked repeatedly to input the same information into different systems belonging to the Defra group.
July 3, 2025 at 3:01 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
#FOI release: new LandIS agreement between Defra and Cranfield University www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-so... #soildata #defradata not- #opendata

This is the contract that governs access to the national soil map for England and Wales – data infrastructure that really should be open but isn't.
March 20, 2024 at 9:15 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Analysis Ready Data from Defra's Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme (England):

● River Surveillance Network environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/2176...
● Small Streams Network environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/98ac...

NCEA www.gov.uk/government/p...

#naturalcapital #defradata #opendata
December 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
England's non-woodland trees freely mapped for first time www.gov.uk/government/n... from @forestresearchuk.bsky.social

National Trees Outside Woodland environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/9c41... downloads + map ncea.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant...

#naturalcapital #geospatial #defradata #opendata 🌳
The National Trees Outside Woodland (TOW) V1 map is a vector product funded by DEFRA's Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme produced under Forest Research's Earth Observation for Trees and Woodlands (EOTW) project. The TOW map identifies canopy cover over 3m tall and 5m2 area which exists outside the National Forest Inventory (National Forest Inventory - Forest Research). Canopy cover is categorised into the following woodland types - lone trees, groups of trees and small woodlands.
April 5, 2025 at 10:11 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Announcement with a detailed data list and supporting information on Defra's Data Services Platform, the official repository for the data environment.data.gov.uk/support/anno...

The datasets are also discoverable via www.data.gov.uk

#floodrisk #coastalerosion #geospatial #defradata #opendata
January 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
England Peat Map environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/3c72... new from Natural England

Blog post naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2025/05/12/a...

80% of England's peatlands are dry and degraded, mapping shows www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#peatlands #biodiversity #geospatial #defradata #opendata
Map: The England Peat Map. Peat depth across England © Natural England
May 12, 2025 at 7:10 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Major release of new flood and coastal erosion risk mapping and data for England www.gov.uk/guidance/upd...

Blog post environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/28/e...

Data briefing www.owenboswarva.com/opendata/EA/... (received by email)

#floodrisk #coastalerosion #geospatial #defradata #opendata

🧵
We have published: ● 28 January 2025: New National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) 'Risk of flooding from rivers and sea' and 'Risk of flooding from surface water' data. ● 28 January 2025: New National Coastal Erosion Risk Map (NCERM) data. ● 17 December 2024: A 'National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024' report - this report is a summary of our new NaFRA and NCERM data We plan to publish: ● 25 March 2025: New NaFRA2 'Flood zone' data on 'Flood map for planning' and available on data.gov.uk - this service allows developers and planners to find the data they need to undertake flood risk assessments
January 28, 2025 at 3:36 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Broadly, today's releases include three datasets:

● Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea
● Risk of Flooding from Surface Water
● National Coastal Erosion Risk Mapping

Flood Map for Planning data and mapping will follow in Spring 2025.

#floodrisk #coastalerosion #geospatial #defradata #opendata
January 28, 2025 at 3:43 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Publication plans for new national risk information for flooding and coastal erosion, from the Environment Agency for England www.gov.uk/guidance/upd...

#UKflood #floodrisk #coastalerosion #defradata #opendata
We plan to publish: ● December 2024: A 'National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024' report - this report will use our new national flood risk assessment (NaFRA2) data and our updated National Coastal Erosion Risk Map (NCERM) ● December 2024: An updated NCERM, available on Shoreline Management Plan Explorer and data.gov.uk ● Early 2025: NaFRA2 'Risk of flooding from rivers and sea' and 'Risk of flooding from surface water' data on 'Check your long term flood risk' and available on data.gov.uk ● Spring 2025: NaFRA2 ‘Flood zone’ data on ‘Flood map for planning’ and available on data.gov.uk
July 10, 2024 at 4:31 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Oddly, although the Round 4 noise maps for England were published on Defra's Data Services Platform in 2023 environment.data.gov.uk/searchresult...

… they haven't been catalogued on DGU. Data for Scotland was added in August 2024 www.data.gov.uk/search?q=noi...

#noisepollution #defradata #opendata
October 23, 2024 at 10:02 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
England's Historic Parklands (Undesignated) naturalengland-defra.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/Def... new from @naturalengland.bsky.social

Related: Registered Parks and Gardens opendata-historicengland.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/his... (open-ish, HE's licence is iffy)

#geospatial #defradata #opendata
This is a spatial dataset that defines the non-designated geographic extent and location of Historic Parklands in England, as depicted in the OS Historic Maps (2nd Edition and Hills Edition). This is a spatial dataset that defines the non-designated geographic extent and location of Historic Parklands in England, as depicted in the OS Historic Maps (2nd Edition and Hills Edition). Regularly updated aerial imagery has been used to ensure high spatial accuracy. The mapping scale is 1:1,000. This dataset, alongside the designated landscapes within the Historic England Registered Parks and Gardens layers, and HER searches can provide a comprehensive understanding of the maximum historic extent of Parklands.
June 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Job – Head of Data Access Services at the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, choice of locations in England www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

#defradata #geospatial #opendata -relevant
As the Head of Data Access Services, you will be responsible for the acquisition, curation, cataloguing, sharing, and publishing of data through our data access services. These services include earth observation, geospatial data services, and Defra's externally facing data services platform. You will drive the continued improvement of the data services platform, engage with collaborators across the Defra Group, acquire data from external sources, and liaise with other government departments to deliver Defra’s open data access policy.
January 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Changes to the Flood Map for Planning service www.tcpa.org.uk/resources/ne... briefing note from Environment Agency (England) via TCPA

New datasets: surface water climate change extents and banded depth information www.tcpa.org.uk/wp-content/u... (see links in PDF)

#floodrisk #defradata #opendata
Summary • On 28 May 2026 we are planning to add new surface water climate change extents and banded depth information to the Flood Map for Planning (FMfP). • New datasets will: o Add to the present day surface water flood risk extents already on the Flood Map for Planning service. o Help inform flood risk assessments, strategic flood risk assessments and SuDS strategies, making them cheaper and easier to produce o Inform decisions on the location and design of development, ensuring it will be safe and resilient, without increasing risk elsewhere o End the need for planners and developers to use the surface water flood risk information on the Check Your Long Term Flood Risk (CYLTFR) service.
May 30, 2026 at 4:36 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Defra has miscalculated last year's release of estimates of access to #greenspace in England www.gov.uk/government/s...

Scenario 5 = neighbourhood-accessible natural greenspace

Related: OS Open Greenspace www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/os-...

#naturalcapital #defradata #opendata #dataquality
Correction: An unscheduled correction will be made to the data as soon as possible, as two issues with the data have been identified. One will result in a notable difference to reported access for scenario 5 and also some smaller changes to scenarios 6 and 7. This is due to access points to greenspaces smaller than 10 ha being erroneously included in the modelling for this scenario. Secondly, a minor issue with the way Ordnance Survey access points were processed has been identified. A subset of the OS green space data contains multipolygons, and previously, some access points were being assigned to the incorrect individual polygon in the multipolygon set. This meant that some access points were inheriting incorrect size attributes and therefore being included or excluded erroneously across all scenarios. This is not an issue with Ordnance Survey data, but with the way we interpreted it. We are now working to rectify these issues and will publish updated data in due course. We continue to welcome feedback on these Official Statistics in Development.
April 11, 2025 at 2:39 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
15 minutes from nature: how we're measuring England's access to green and blue space defraenvironment.blog.gov.uk/2026/04/10/1... post from Defra's James Duffy

Data release www.gov.uk/government/s...

#greenspace #bluespace #naturalcapital #defradata #opendata
"Figure 1: A diagram showing the components of the network analysis. The distance between a household and its nearest green space access point is calculated along a network of walkable routes. In this case, the highlighted household (orange) is 15 m from the nearest access point."
April 10, 2026 at 10:25 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Another big exciting data job in UK Government:

Deputy Director: Head of Data and AI at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), various locations in England www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi...

#defradata #opendata #govtech
You will provide leadership across Defra in our adoption of AI in line with the AI Opportunities Plan, identifying business opportunities, shaping proposals and influencing senior executives. You will provide thought leadership around how we organise ourselves for AI both from a business and digital perspective. Your leadership will ensure the quality, accessibility, and coherent use of data, enabling transformative digital services. The role is part of the Architecture, Data Information, and Innovation (ADII) team, within the Digital, Data, Technology, and Security (DDTS) function.
March 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Delivering economic growth and nature recovery: an independent review of Defra's regulatory landscape www.gov.uk/government/p... by Dan Corry + Defra press release www.gov.uk/government/n...

#defradata #opendata #datasharing

A bold new agenda for Defra – I like it! (Liz who? 🤫)
Recommendation 29: Defra should fast track the sharing of data across regulators and externally, making external commitments to do more. Understanding and interrogating the huge amount of existing data Defra already holds as an organisation should be a high priority in Defra's digital and data transformation strategy, with a much greater presumption on information sharing, and increasing the amount of timely (released as close to real-time as possible), sustained and useful (minimum level of aggregation) data made publicly available. This will build organisational efficiency and an economy of scale, whilst building trust in our regulatory landscape as 'citizen scientists' have increasing access to our data.
April 2, 2025 at 7:17 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Blue space access points in England environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/317c... new mapping dataset from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Related statistics www.gov.uk/government/s...

#bluespace #geospatial #defradata #opendata
This dataset was created to support creation of the 'Access to blue spaces in England' statistic. It identifies point locations where it is likely possible to walk up to or alongside blue spaces such as canals, rivers and lakes. 3 versions of the dataset are available: ● All blue space (Scenario 1): includes all blue spaces that can be accessed on foot which are at least 50 m2 (0.005 ha) in area or at least 50 m in length. Access points were included irrespective of the length of walkable waterside route which they provide access to. ● Substantial blue space (Scenario 2): includes blue spaces that can be accessed on foot which are at least 0.5 ha in area and for which the length of walkable route alongside the waterbody is 250 m or longer. This is a subset of blue space access points used in Scenario 1. ● Substantial blue space along paths and smaller roads (Scenario 3): includes substantial blue spaces as defined in Scenario 2, but filtered to remove those which require walking on A or B roads to experience them.
August 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Magic Maps: change to service platform naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/12/m... post from Natural England

magic.defra.gov.uk ~> magicjs4.landmarkcloud.co.uk

#geospatial #govtech #defradata #opendata -adjacent
What is changing? Some users may remember that significant work was done in 2012 and 2013 to re-develop the website and bring it up to date. Once again, we've been working on the website in the background to bring it up to date and ensure it works correctly. We're carrying out a change to the website that will update it from JavaScript version 3 to JavaScript version 4. This is an important change that will ensure it continues to function well into the future and is a more secure website. MAGIC will look and feel different post-update. It will have a different user interface, a different appearance to the table of contents and the tools and buttons will have moved to different positions. Performance might slightly decrease on older devices as well due to RAM (Random Access Memory) but should still be entirely usable. We are also working to improve the printing facility in version 4, which will be available in coming months. For now, users will need to continue to use the JavaScript version 3's printing functionality.
December 12, 2024 at 2:54 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
Fifty years of arable disease data now accessible to farmers www.farminguk.com/news/fifty-y...

Defra Survey of Crop Pests & Diseases – Data Explorer www.pestanddiseasesurvey.co.uk/platform

Not #opendata – survey funded by Defra but (based on T&Cs) outputs owned by ADAS. Why?

#agridata #defradata
Julie Smith, ADAS principal research scientist said: "This is the first time since the Defra pest and disease survey began over 50 years ago that all the insightful data collected from the field is readily available. "We've worked hard to ensure this powerful dataset gives an accurate representation of growing pressures across England and Wales over multiple decades and that the data is easy to explore and visualise. "We want this to be a useful open resource for anybody wishing to explore and understand crop pests and disease trends, whether they are a farmer, researcher or a policy maker."
September 24, 2024 at 2:35 PM
owenboswarva.bsky.social
New data to drive action to improve England's rivers and lakes www.gov.uk/government/n... from the Environment Agency

Links to waterbodies classification data for 2025 engageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com/understandin...

#waterquality #biodiversity #defradata #opendata
● Surface water bodies are classified as high, good, moderate, poor or bad, based on elements including aquatic species, temperature and oxygen levels, and the health of physical habitats such as riverbanks. Surface waters also receive a pass or fail for chemical status, covering issues such as legacy chemicals and microplastics. ● All 272 groundwater bodies in England are classified as either good or poor, based on water quantity and pollution levels. ● Classifications are updated every six years. The previous set was published in 2019, meaning this dataset spans 2019 to 2025.
August 6, 2026 at 2:47 PM