UK ecology, habitats and biodiversity net gain data sources compared
Confirm the body covering the site: Natural England in England, NatureScot in Scotland, Natural Resources Wales in Wales and DAERA’s Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland; JNCC advises UK-wide and offshore. Designated site boundaries (SSSI, or ASSI in Northern Ireland, SAC, SPA, Ramsar, NNR and LNR) support screening: check citations, notified features and condition assessments with the responsible body. Impact risk zones are a screening tool, not a decision. Species occurrence records have variable recording effort, accuracy and per-dataset licences; absence of records is not evidence of absence, and sensitive records may be generalised or withheld. Local environmental records centres can provide additional local data, often for a fee. Biodiversity net gain in England uses the statutory biodiversity metric, with habitat classification and condition assessment; check its UKHab correspondence and current guidance. Off-site gains are recorded on the biodiversity gain sites register. Mapped habitat and land cover layers do not replace a habitat survey by a qualified ecologist. In specified catchments affecting protected habitat sites in England, Natural England’s nutrient neutrality calculators estimate development nutrient budgets. Check licence, commercial-use terms and update dates for each layer: much statutory data uses the Open Government Licence, species records carry per-dataset licence terms, mostly Creative Commons, and ancient woodland layers need their own checks.
Showing 13 of 13 matching sources from the build-time catalogue snapshot, capped at 40. Half the places are reserved for each publisher group; unused places go to the other group. Each section is ordered by the existing evidence score and catalogue tie-breaks. Sponsored listings and placeholders are excluded. Bulk imports are excluded. Scores describe catalogue evidence, not fitness for a particular site.
Selection requires recorded UK coverage or coverage of a UK nation; global coverage alone is not treated as confirmation. Check each listing’s evidence and upstream terms: enrichment may be inferred, and Unknown means the catalogue has no clear value. Wrappers provide access to upstream data, not an independent survey or monitoring network.
Connect to TerraMCP to use sources marked live via the router. Availability here records an implemented adapter, not a live service-health check.
Lesser-known sources
Independent and other sources not classified as government or regulator publishers. “Lesser-known” is a discovery grouping, not a measure of popularity.
| Source | What it gives | Coverage & cadence | Access / API / format | Licence / commercial use | Live via TerraMCP router | Evidence score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBN Atlas API data api | UK species occurrence records Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: United Kingdom Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Free/open; no authentication required (auth: none); licence: CC per record Authentication: none Formats: Unknown | Licence: CC per record Commercial use: Unknown | No | 61.2/100 |
| uk-open-data-connectors mcp | Environment Agency flood-monitoring station metadata, with river and catchment; Recent water levels for one station, newest first; ONS dataset catalogue; FSA food hygiene registers, with establishment counts; TfL Santander Cycles docking stations, with docking points and docked bikes; Planning Data platform datasets and their published records; Natural England ancient woodland polygons (England), counted by type and size; Bank of England Bank Rate, daily; police.uk recorded street-level crime within a mile of a point, by crime type and outcome; National Energy System Operator half-hourly carbon intensity (Great Britain); UK Parliament seats by party in the House of Commons; postcodes.io postcode lookup (country, region, wards, coordinates); Department for Education statistics releases; London Datastore dataset catalogue; National Archives Discovery catalogue search; UKHSA data dashboard metric points (e.g. new HIV diagnoses in England); ONS Nomis SDMX dataset definitions and maintenance status; Fingertips public health indicator metadata (OHID); Cabinet Office Find a Tender procurement notices (OCDS 1.1); Live status of every London Underground line; Public Health Scotland open data catalogue; NHS Business Services Authority open data catalogue Resolution: Daily for Bank Rate (one reading per business day); half-hourly for carbon intensity (Great Britain); street-level for police crime (within a mile of a point); not stated for other connectors | Coverage: United Kingdom, varying by connector: ancient-woodland is England only; police-crimes covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland (not Scotland); carbon-intensity is Great Britain Record period: police-crimes: last 36 months; bank-rate: since 1975; carbon-intensity: 30 complete days per call; other connectors not stated Cadence: Unknown | Access: Free and keyless: no API key is needed for any connector. TfL asks for an app key above the free rate limit (optional apiKey in the adapter). Repo licence MIT (entry metadata); underlying data mostly under OGL v3, with TfL Open Data, CC BY 4.0 (carbon intensity) and OPL v3 (parliament seats) Authentication: No API key required (repository README, auto-extracted; check upstream requirements) Formats: JSON | Licence: MIT Commercial use: Yes (docs-verified) | No | 39.4/100 |
Known sources: Government and regulators
| Source | What it gives | Coverage & cadence | Access / API / format | Licence / commercial use | Live via TerraMCP router | Evidence score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural England Open Data Geoportal data api | Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) datasets Resolution: vector | Coverage: England Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Free/open, no authentication (auth: none); licence OGL-3.0 Authentication: none Formats: Unknown | Licence: OGL-3.0 Commercial use: Unknown | Yes Tools: ne_designated_sites | 76.5/100 |
| MAGIC data api | natural environment geographic datasets (400+ layers in the interactive map) Resolution: vector | Coverage: Great Britain Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Public web map with no authentication (ENTRY auth: none); licence OGL-3.0 (ENTRY metadata). DOCS do not state access terms. Authentication: none Formats: Unknown | Licence: OGL-3.0 Commercial use: Unknown | No | 69.9/100 |
| NatureScot data services data api | Scottish designated sites Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: Scotland Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Free and open; no authentication required; licence OGL-3.0 Authentication: none Formats: Unknown | Licence: OGL-3.0 Commercial use: Unknown | No | 69/100 |
| Statutory Biodiversity Metric dataset | biodiversity unit calculation for BNG (statutory biodiversity metric calculation tool); habitat condition assessment criteria for metric habitats; small sites biodiversity metric calculation tool Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: England Record period: Unknown Cadence: Ad hoc (no fixed schedule stated); last updated 2 June 2026 | Access: Free to download from GOV.UK, no authentication; licence OGL-3.0 (per catalogue metadata) Authentication: none Formats: MS Excel spreadsheet (macro-enabled and macro-disabled calculation tools); PDF (user guides); HTML (version history and data transfer guide) | Licence: OGL-3.0 Commercial use: Yes (docs-verified) | No | 66.2/100 |
| Nutrient neutrality calculators dataset | nutrients from waste water; nutrients from current land use; nutrients from future land use; nutrients removed through SuDS; final nutrient budget (net change plus buffer) Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: England (27 nutrient neutrality catchments) Record period: Unknown Cadence: Irregular, no schedule stated; last updated 11 March 2026 | Access: Free to use, no authentication; licence OGL-3.0 (from entry metadata) Authentication: none Formats: spreadsheet (worksheet-based calculator) | Licence: OGL-3.0 Commercial use: Yes (docs-verified) | No | 64/100 |
| Biodiversity gain sites register dataset | searchable biodiversity gain sites register Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: England Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: No authentication required per entry metadata; licence OGL-3.0 Authentication: none Formats: Unknown | Licence: OGL-3.0 Commercial use: Yes (docs-verified) | No | 60/100 |
| Critical loads of acidity and nutrient nitrogen for UK habitats dataset | critical loads of acidity for UK habitats; critical loads of nutrient nitrogen for UK habitats; acidity critical loads for 1752 selected freshwater sites Resolution: 1 km (1x1 km grid; 1000 m spatial resolution) | Coverage: United Kingdom Record period: 2004-01-01 to 2011-12-31 Cadence: No update schedule stated; acidity last revised 2004, nutrient nitrogen updated 2011 | Access: Open Government Licence; download from NERC EIDC, scripted bulk download uses a personal access token Authentication: Unknown Formats: CSV | Licence: Open government licence Commercial use: Yes (docs-verified) | No | 57.6/100 |
| A high-resolution habitat map for England (LCM 3m) dataset | 72-class land cover map; habitat classes broadly aligned with UKHab Resolution: 3 m spatial resolution | Coverage: England Record period: 2023 (imagery January to December 2023) Cadence: Unknown | Access: Licensed, not open. Academic non-commercial access via EDINA Environment Digimap; commercial and other uses need a separate licence with fees, royalties or revenue-sharing. Licence: Non-Open government licence Authentication: Unknown Formats: TIFF | Licence: Non-Open government licence Commercial use: Unknown | No | 47.9/100 |
| Interest features and linked critical load/level values for UK protected sites dataset | This dataset contains the critical load and level values for designated habitats and species (where there is an appropriate match) at protected sites across the UK. The data is available for designated interest features for the following designations: (i) Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) (ii) Special Protection Areas (SPA) (iii) Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - England only. Critical loads and levels are set under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: United Kingdom Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Unknown Authentication: Unknown Formats: Unknown | Licence: Open government licence Commercial use: Unknown | No | 37.5/100 |
| Potential habitat conversions and biodiversity unit calculations under the Biodiversity Net Gain metric framework in England, 2025 dataset | This dataset contains a structured table of potential habitat conversions and their associated biodiversity unit calculations under the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) framework implemented in England. The potential baseline habitats and conversions were limited to habitats relevant to the study area, Oxfordshire. The dataset describes baseline habitat characteristics, potential post-conversion habitat states, and the biodiversity metric parameters used to determine biodiversity units before and aft Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: England Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Unknown Authentication: Unknown Formats: Unknown | Licence: Open government licence Commercial use: Unknown | No | 37.5/100 |
| River Habitat Survey (RHS) data 1998 [Countryside Survey] dataset | River Habitat Survey (RHS) data from rivers and streams surveyed in 1998 as part of the Countryside Survey project. River Habitat Survey (RHS) is an assessment of the physical structure of freshwater streams and rivers based on a standard 500m length sample unit. It does not require specialist geomorphological or botanical expertise but consistent recognition of features included on the form is essential. To ensure consistency of recording all surveyors must be accredited, and recording follows Resolution: Unknown | Coverage: United Kingdom Record period: Unknown Cadence: Unknown | Access: Unknown Authentication: Unknown Formats: Unknown | Licence: Non-Open government licence Commercial use: Unknown | No | 37.5/100 |
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2 of the 13 matching sources here are from independent or other non-government publishers.
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