Insight User Guide: Habitat designations

Priority Habitat Inventory

Habitats of Principal Importance as named under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) Section 41 Habitats of Principal Importance.

Habitat Networks

Habitat Networks for 18 priority Habitat Networks (based primarily, but not exclusively, on the Priority Habitat Inventory) and areas suitable for the expansion of networks through restoration and habitat creation.

Open Mosaic Habitat

Sites verified as Open Mosaic Habitat. Mosaic Habitats are brownfield sites that are identified under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as a priority habitat due to the habitat variation within a single site, supporting an array of invertebrates.

Open Mosaic Habitats can be extremely diverse, including such wide ranging sites as railway sidings, quarries, former industrial works, slag heap, bings and brick pits.

Limestone Pavement Orders

Limestone Pavements are outcrops of limestone where the surface has been worn away by natural means over millennia. These rocks have the appearance of paving blocks, hence their name. Not only do they have geological interest, they also provide valuable habitats for wildlife. These habitats are threatened due to their removal for use in gardens and water features. Many Limestone Pavements have been designated as SSSIs which affords them some protection. In addition, Section 34 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 gave them additional protection via the creation of Limestone Pavement Orders, which made it a criminal offence to remove any part of the outcrop. The associated Limestone Pavement Priority Habitat is part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat in England.