Cumbria Wildlife Trust Chooses GeoPerspectives

05 December 2007, 10:51am

Cumbria Wildlife Trust has turned to the latest digital aerial mapping technology to protect wildlife in one of Britain's areas of outstanding natural beauty. Using a new GeoPerspectives™ photomap covering the entire county of Cumbria, the aerial imagery is helping the Trust with the identification and management of sites of interest.

The GeoPerspectives imagery, supplied by aerial survey specialists Bluesky, will be used in the Trust’s geographical information system (GIS) aiding the consideration of Local Authority planning applications and improving communication with trust members, the general public and other interested parties. Cumbria Wildlife Trust, a registered charity, chose the GeoPerspectives imagery as it provided an affordable solution, delivering real world detail of the region from the desktop.

The Trust is responsible for the care and day-to-day management of more than 40 nature reserves, including peat bogs, limestone pavements, ancient woodlands and coastal sites, as well as advising on the wildlife impacts of development and land management and carries out essential wildlife survey work.

“In our capacity as wildlife advisors for the Local Authorities, we consider every possible aspect of a development project or land management issue,” said Dr Kate Willshaw, Planning Officer and Wildlife Sites Co-ordinator. “The GeoPerspectives imagery enables us to undertake preliminary assessments from the desktop, reducing the need for site visits, therefore saving time and money.”

The GeoPerspectives imagery is also being used to assist with identification and management of wildlife sites throughout the county. “Many of our sites were designated in the 1980s and may have significantly changed over the past twenty years,” continues Dr Willshaw. “Using the GeoPerspectives imagery within our GIS we can compare actual ground detail with other types of information, such as Ordnance Survey mapping and our own data layers, giving us additional site intelligence and helping with the identification and management of sites.”

GeoPerspectives is a joint venture between BlueSky and Infoterra providing national coverage of orthorectified aerial photography, digital terrain & surface models (DTM/DSM) for 3D modelling, and colour infra-red imagery (CIR) for vegetation analysis.

CONTACTS
www.geoperspectives.co.uk
Rachel Tidmarsh, BlueSky International, Tel : +44 (0)1530 518 562
Sarah Haslam, Infoterra Ltd, Tel: +44 (0)116 273 2300

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