Information we hold

HBIC maintains databases containing information on habitats, species and designated sites across Hampshire

Statutory wildlife sites

HBIC holds the latest copies of all the statutory site boundaries maintained by Natural England, including:

Site boundaries and other information can also be downloaded from the Natural England Open Data Geoportal.

Non statutory wildlife sites

HBIC holds the latest copies of site boundaries for all non-statutory site designations within Hampshire, including:

Habitat mapping

HBIC maintains a comprehensive land use and habitat map for Hampshire using the UK Habitat Classification system. GIS maps are ground truthed and updated from the HBIC Habitat Survey Programme on a regular basis. HBIC can produce maps showing broad habitats, priority habitats and national vegetation classification (NVC) types.

Information on the completeness of priority habitat mapping in Hampshire can be found in Table 1 in the latest Annual Biodiversity Monitoring Report.

Species data

HBIC maintains an extensive database of over 11 million species records for Hampshire. Roughly 1 million come from the Habitat Survey Programme and 10 million from National Schemes, local recording groups and individuals:

HBIC holds data exchange agreements with these organisations and can supply species records for Hampshire on their behalf. Further details of these and any additional datasets held by HBIC are available: HBIC Species Datasets.

Notable Species - these are species protected under European legislation and the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, species listed under S41 of the Natural & Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, the Birds of Conservation Concern Red list and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classified as ‘Threatened’ (Categories EX, EW, CR, EN & VU)

Noteworthy species – species listed as ‘Hampshire Responsible’ where Hampshire holds 10% or more of the tetrads for which the taxon is recorded in England from 1986 onwards, ‘Hampshire Declining’ where there has been an ≥50% decline in distribution of Hampshire's population between 1986 and 2019, ‘Near Threatened’ the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classified as ‘Near Threatened’ (Categories NT)

Many species will have multiple designations. Approximately 2.3 million of the 11 million records that HBIC holds are of notable or noteworthy species; The following is the most up to date list of all notable and noteworthy species. Note: not all species listed occur or have been recorded in Hampshire.

List of notable and noteworthy species

Find out how you can contribute to species recording in Hampshire.

Site survey reports

Copies of ecological survey reports for specified sites can be supplied by HBIC where they are available. Some 8000 sites have been surveyed to Phase 2 level, many to NVC level.

Local Nature Recovery Strategy

HBIC assisted Hampshire County Council, the Responsible Authority for Hampshire, in the production of the mapping for the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. This used a large biodiversity data set pulled from many different sources including Natural England, Environment Agency, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and the Local Planning Authorities. Priority Habitat data and locally designated site data were supplied by HBIC.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Hampshire includes options to download GIS files of the mapping. Alternatively, HBIC can supply these for you as part of more comprehensive data request including other data.

How data is held

Data is exported into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and combined with ‘layers’ of information including aerial photographic coverage. This enables HBIC to produce a wide range of maps and perform spatial analyses. See Metadata for more information on the GIS layers maintained by HBIC.

HBIC updates the databases and GIS layers as new data comes in from the species recording groups and its own habitat survey programme. This survey programme has been running since the late 1970’s.

Request data

Find out about and request information from our data enquiry service.