Phase 1 Habitat Survey

Survey

A Phase 1 Habitat Survey provides a standardised system of classifying habitats in the UK, this methodology was designed in the 1970s by the Nature Conservancy Council (Now the Joint Nature Conservation Committee) to provide a rapid assessment of large areas of the British countryside.

A Phase 1 Habitat Survey by The Wildlife Survey Unit would identify whether any of the following are present on any given site:

• EC Habitats Directive Annex 1 habitats and Annex 2 plant species
• Plant species protected under Schedule 8 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act
• UK Biodiversity Action Plan plant species and habitats
• Local Biodiversity Action Plan plant species and habitats
• Vascular Plant Red Data List species
• Alien invasive plant species listed under Part II of Schedule 9 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act
• Hedgerows qualifying under the Hedgerow Regulations

The Phase 1 Habitat Survey report would include a habitat map (see below) with detailed target notes and a full plant species list. A desk study of protected sites, protected habitats, and flora records from the local biological records centre would provide historic records for the site and environs.

Calendar

Example of a Phase 1 Habitat map for a small suburban site

Lizard Orchid (Himantoglossum hircinum) - A plant listed on Schedule 8 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) - A plant of wet meadows

Mountain Avens (Dryas octopetala) - A plant of limestone outcrops