An aerial photography firm has helped a national charity develop their work with trees.
Bluesky, of Coalville, has sold their National Tree Map to the Woodland Trust.
The map, which details more than 280 million trees across England and Wales, will help the trust assess tree cover in different areas, and identify where more trees should be planted.
Dr Nick Atkinson, senior conservation advisor at the Woodland Trust, said: “The data the Government has used to calculate statistics about woodland cover only includes areas of woodland above a specific size.
“We already know, from our initial assessment of the Bluesky National Tree Map data, that this significantly underestimates total tree cover.
“In fact, something like a third of all cover is outside traditional woods, such as along rivers, field boundaries, roads and railways.”
Created from Bluesky’s aerial photography, colour infrared data and height datasets, the National Tree Map database provides details of the location, height and canopy size for all trees that are three or more metres tall.
The data will be used alongside mapping within the Trust’s Geographical Information System.
