Analysis and restoration of landscape with Geographical Information Systems: a case study of Snowdonia National Park (UK)

The native woodlands of the Snowdonia National Park, north Wales (UK) have been reduced and fragmented over the centuries. The work described here was part of a wider study creating an environmental database for the Snowdonia National Park, in Wales (UK), and developing modeling systems to assist in locating new native woodland, using the functionality of G.I.S. technology. Working with the datasets available, such as a land cover map, ancient woodland sites and information on conservation status of land, a set of ecological criteria were developed so as to take account of the requirements for successful woodland expansion from the nature conservation point of view and specific policy aims. The datasets were combined to produce the Woodland Restoration Model. The Snowdonia National Park in Wales (UK), was used as a pilot area for developing and testing the methodology, but it could be used in any analysis requiring the identification of optimal locations for native woodland expansion at a regional or large-district scale.