Related Projects

A number of other habitat mapping surveys and projects for management of the marine environment have been carried out around the Welsh coast and further afield on a UK or European scale. The HABMAP project worked alongside many of these projects to share data and ideas. Here you can read a brief introduction to them, and follow links to their websites.

IMAGIN. Web GIS

IMAGIN bought together an Ireland/Wales scientific consortium comprising organisations with expertise in coastal processes, geology and marine resource management for the purpose of developing a strategic framework and scientific rationale to underpin the sustainable management of the marine aggregate resources of the Irish Sea.

UKSeaMap

Covering the UK continental shelf area, UKSeaMap produced a seabed habitat map using input physical datalayers to predict biotopes to the EUNIS habitat classification system. It also produced maps of coastal and physiographic features. The 2010 project is an extension of the original 2006 project.

MESH

MESH (Mapping European Seabed Habitats) was an international marine habitat mapping programme that ran from 2004-2008. It was made up of a consortium of 12 partners across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France and gained financial support from the EU INTERREG III. It aimed to establish a framework of protocols and guidelines for seabed habitat mapping, and compiled the first marine habitat map for the NW of Europe.

Irish Sea Pilot

The UK Government Review of Marine Nature Conservation set up the Irish Sea Pilot project in 2002 to test the potential for an ecosystem approach to managing the marine environment at a regional sea scale. The project produced a report and maps for the purposes of future marine management.

Outer Bristol Channel Marine Habitat Study

This was a collaborative project between The National Museum Wales (NMW) and the British Geological Survey (BGS) that focussed on the Geology and Biology of the Outer Bristol Channel. New survey data was collected and added to existing data to provide a baseline for the sustainable use of seabed resources, map marine habitats and species, and provide education to a wider public audience.

Irish National Seabed Survey

The INSS (now INFOMAR) is primarily a multibeam sonar survey of the Irish continental shelf that is providing detailed bathymetry (water depth) data and information on the nature of the seabed and its overlying sediment. This baseline information is being collected in order to promote and encourage research in Marine Science.