Message from the Directors
As this issue of Sphere goes to press we thought it would be a good idea to let you know how we are responding to the COVID-19 situation. Placing our staff at the heart of all our decision-making we are all now working from home, ensuring maximum flexibility especially for those with children. As an evidence and insight business we are fully operational with secure access to all our data and technology. Enhanced risk assessments are now in place which means that we are working and here to help. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Steve and Graeme
Contents
Project News
Afforestation – Tree Suitability Modelling
Forests 2020 – Soy Mapping
Woodland Trust Data Portal
Bat Houses
Company News
Project News
Afforestation – Tree Suitability Modelling
The UK Government has set a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The target requires all sectors of the UK economy, including agriculture and forestry, to make contributions. In 2019, the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) commissioned a study to investigate the application of spatial modelling to tree species and site selection in Wales to see if its ambition of planting 152,000 ha in Wales was feasible.
The project focused on one coniferous (Sitka Spruce) and one broadleaved (Sessile Oak) tree species. The project built on draft modelling outputs from the Welsh Government Capability, Suitability and Climate Programme, where Environment Systems worked in collaboration with Cranfield University and ADAS to spatially model differences in land suitability for growing 118 crops.
The afforestation case study evaluated land suitability for Sessile Oak and Sitka Spruce based on biophysical properties alone, and in combination with legal and policy constraints to tree planting. Spatial modelling and statistical analysis were undertaken for the present day, and for four future climate change scenarios; 2050 and 2080, under medium and high greenhouse gas emissions.
Biophysical factors are clearly vital for understanding where it is possible to grow crops. However, legal and policy decisions also exert a very real effect on the land available for growing crops. The project considered significant constraints to tree planting, such as areas of deep peat and priority habitats where tree planting is not currently possible (or desirable). It also considered ‘sensitivities’ such as historic and open access land, where tree planting may be possible, however, additional planning and consultation may be required.
The modelling revealed that the CCC tree-planting ambition for Wales is achievable however, it is likely to require the use of land that is less than biophysically ideal, and which is likely to be under pressure from competing land uses such as agriculture and energy generation. Significantly, it questions whether the target is sufficient to achieve the level of climate mitigation required, given the likely slower growth rates of trees on limited suitability land.
The full report can be accessed here.
Forests 2020 – Soy Mapping
Forests 2020 is a major investment by the UK Space Agency, as part of the International Partnerships Programme (IPP). Project managed by Ecometrica, Forests 2020 uses advanced mapping technologies, satellite data and other insights to help protect and restore tropical forests through improved forest monitoring. Ecometrica has partnered with Environment Systems to deliver an automated and scalable approach to mapping soybeans in Brazil.
Brazil possesses about one third of the world’s remaining rainforests, covering almost 60% of the country’s surface. It is also the largest soybean producer and expected to export 77 million tons of soybeans in 2020.
Western Bahia was identified as the pilot area, a region of Brazil characterised by large scale intensive agriculture, the majority of which is soybean cultivation. Here the rainy season stretches from October through to April, during which time soybeans are the principal crop, being sown from October and fully harvested by the end of March.
To develop and test the map and achieve higher levels of crop classification accuracy, field work was required to verify the crop on the ground and thus provide additional ‘training’ points for the algorithm. Environment Systems surveyors collected over 1,100 data points. These points were applied to the field boundaries and satellite data to produce an automated classification with an accuracy of over 90%.
Following on from the pilot, the approach was rolled out in another of Brazil’s intensive agriculture regions, Mato Grosso. Almost 45,000 field boundaries were generated and an area of 100,000 km² was successfully mapped, identifying all the soya production, at a field scale, without the need for any field surveys. The maps are now accessible online via Ecometrica’s EOLab platform. You can find out more about Forests 2020 here.
Woodland Trust Data Portal
The Woods for People project, initiated by the Woodland Trust in 2002 in partnership with the Forestry Commission, with support from the Environment and Heritage Service provides access to accessible woodland data. The aim was to produce a comprehensive inventory of accessible woodland across the UK to improve public access and use. Since 2003 Environment Systems has been involved in the annual data collection and maintenance for this project. The process involves contacting woodland owners and managers by email, telephone and post to update the data held by the Trust.
In 2019, Environment Systems was commissioned to develop an online portal to enable woodland owners to manage their data themselves. The portal has been set up to send out automated reminders every year to request that woodland holdings and contact information are checked and updated if necessary. Since its launch, the portal has reduced the number of those needing to be contacted by half. Data collected through the portal is fed into the Trust’s central database which powers the ‘Find a wood’ section of the Trust’s website. Members of the public can enter a location and see all the woods with open access in that area.
Bat Houses
A large part of the work the Environment Systems ecology team carries out involves bat surveys of buildings requiring renovation, demolition, restoration or conversion. This usually involves daytime inspections and bat activity surveys at dusk or dawn to identify and characterise any bat roosts present, as well as the species and the number involved. Environment Systems has successfully obtained over 100 European protected species (EPS) licences to enable work around bat roosts to take place. This involves the design and implementation of bat mitigation measures, including providing replacement bat roosts and subsequent population monitoring.
Recently we undertook dusk and dawn activity surveys around a dilapidated Grade II farmhouse that was scheduled for restoration. The surveys recorded activity from nine species, which included foraging, commuting, and social behaviour. Soprano pipistrelle bats were confirmed as present in the building as they were seen emerging from and entering access points in six locations, along ridge tiles and under a loose slate tile. A lesser horseshoe bat was seen roosting within the building during the day time inspection. An EPS license was granted by Natural Resources Wales which enabled mitigation work to be carried out. The design of mitigation was considered as the long-term for the site as a whole including the outbuildings that are present on site that will be renovated in the future.
A dilapidated former store that had no bat interest was identified and proposed as a purpose-built two storey bat house, including a cooling tower with baffles that will provide a range of different conditions for horseshoe and long-eared species to roost all year round. Our lead bat surveyor was on site during the works to provide toolbox talks to contractors and advice throughout construction. The bat house was completed in December 2019. Population monitoring will continue for the next couple of years as part of the license condition.
Company News
Cyber Essentials
We have just achieved Cyber Essentials accreditation. Cyber Essentials is a Government backed scheme that has helped Environment Systems implement protection against cyber attack. The accreditation we now have demonstrates that we take our cyber security seriously and certifies that we have put suitable protections in place.
The accreditation assessment focuses on five basic security controls which, when properly implemented, help to protect against internet-based attacks.
Staff News
Justa Hopma
Justa recently joined Environment Systems as Partnership Coordinator for the EO4Cultivar project in South America. Prior to joining Environment Systems, she worked as business and strategy manager at AA International, an agri-tech organisation active in ground-truthing and farmer training in eastern Africa and the Middle East. Justa has a PhD in political science and human geography and certificates in soil management and tropical agriculture.