Environment (Wales) Act Section 7 Terrestrial Habitats of Principal Importance

Under the Environment (Wales) Act (2016), Section 7 requires biodiversity lists to be produced. These lists include types of habitats which are of "Principal Importance" for the purpose of maintain and enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales. This list supersedes the duty in Section 42 of the NERC Act 2006. This dataset details the extent and location of those terrestrial habitats classed of "Principal Importance" in Wales.

This dataset was created using Priority Habitats of Wales Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) and Broad Habitats both of which are derived from Phase 1 Terrestrial habitat and species surveys conducted across Wales. In 2019 the interim list of habitats of principal importance was exactly the same as the previous list under Section 42 of the NERC Act.

The current representation of Priority Habitats in this Environment (Wales) Act Section 7 Terrestrial Habitats of Principal Importance catalogue entry on DataMapWales is incomplete. This is because of an ongoing review of the data. We anticipate releasing the complete updated version of the data later this year (current estimated completion date is December 2024 but this may change).

If you require a specific Priority Habitat, please contact us at opendata@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk, and we may be able to provide you with the relevant data, if it’s in a condition to do so. This will be with the caveat that the data is draft and may change.

Attribution statement
Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number AC0000849444. Crown Copyright and Database Right.