Memorandum submitted by the Ordnance Survey
1. ORDNANCE SURVEY
Ordnance Survey is the national mapping agency
of Great Britain and a Government Department. It carries out the
official, definitive, survey and mapping of the country and is
a world leader in digital geographical information. The Director
General is the official adviser to government on geographical
information. Ordnance Survey became an Executive Agency in 1990
and a Trading Fund on 1 April 1999.
We aim to satisfy the need for accurate, readily-available,
mapping and geospatial information for the whole of Great Britain
in the most effective and efficient way.
More information about our work is available
on our web site at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk.
2. INTER COASTAL
ZONE MAPPING
(ICZMAP)
2.1 Background
There has been increasing awareness of the value
of our coasts and the pressures upon them and the local marine
environment. Integrated mapping of the coastal zone is a primary
requirement for the sustainable development and stewardship of
the coast.
About a third of the population of the UK lives
within 10 km of the coast. The coastal zone of the UK is diverse
in terms of its physical features, natural habitat, economic development,
social character and community value. It lies at the interface
between the marine and terrestrial environment and has pressures
and drivers which are specific or unique to itself.
For this reason the integration of the countries
three definitive data sets (those of Geology, Hydrography and
Geography) was envisaged as a challenge and an opportunity to
follow the principles of joined-up geography and joined-up government.
The availability of nationally consistent digital data from the
Ordnance Survey, British Geological Survey and UK Hydrographic
Office represents an opportunity for modellers and researchers
of the coast.
Initially proposed at a CEFAS (Centre for Environment,
Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) Workshop on Integrated Mapping
in 1999, it was soon apparent that the project could only proceed
with the concerted involvement of the BGS, Ordnance Survey and
UKHO.
The ICZMap project was initiated in April 2001
as a collaborative project undertaken by Ordnance Survey, the
British Geological Society (BGS) and the UK Hydrographic Office
(UKHO). It was funded within the Treasury Invest to Save Budget
programme and was completed in June 2003.
The project came at a time when the UKHO had
created electronic navigation charts for United Kingdom (UK) waters,
the BGS had digitised their holdings (the Digmap series) and Ordnance
Survey had launched OS MasterMap®. In general the industry
had moved on and in the new data economy "interoperability"
between such definitive data sets is a key need.
Although spatial data is now available in digital
format it is rarely a straight forward operation to unite the
data due to differing characteristics of the existing data sets.
These differences are a consequence of the data collection process
having been created for different purposes (for example, to navigate
ships by, or designate subterranean features or to define topographic
features).
2.2 Inter Coastal Zone Mapping—Key Drivers
2.2.1 Climate change, coastal erosion and
flooding
The potential effects of climate change in the
coastal zone are significant. The scenario for climate change
in the UK, published by DEFRA in 2002, indicated that average
annual temperatures would continue to increase during this century.
We shall generally wetter winters and drier summers; storms may
become more frequent. Sea level will have risen around much of
the UK coast. In SE England it may reach over 80 cm above its
current level by the 2080's. Extreme sea levels, associated with
the combined effects of high tides, sea level rise and storms,
may occur more frequently. As a result the coastal zone could
experience:
— increased rates of erosion;
— wider extent and greater frequency
of flooding;
— loss of low-lying land such as salt
marsh;
— greater occurrence of storm surge
floods;
— higher wave energy; and
— changes in natural habitat.
The Government is committed to monitoring and
assessing the impacts of climate change and funding research and
solutions with regard to coastal erosion and flooding. ICZMap
has an important role in supporting this commitment.
2.2.2 Marine Stewardship
The Government's new strategy for the conservation
and sustainable development of our marine environment, including
the coast, was published in the DEFRA report "Safeguarding
our Seas" in May 2002. The strategy outlines a vision of
a marine environment that is clean, healthy, safe, productive
and biologically diverse, which will be achieved by adopting an
eco-system-based management approach. The report outlines the
principles which underpin the policies but, more importantly,
sets out how the government will work to achieve it's vision by
developing new ideas and initiatives, particularly at the cross
cutting level.
Some of these initiatives include:
— protecting important habitats;
— improving marine conservation in
the UK;
— reviewing the regulatory framework
affecting development in the coastal area;
— improving co-ordination in Government
for activities that effect the sea bed;
— exploring the role of spatial planning
for the marine environment;
— providing a focal point to build
on existing sea bed mapping for coastal waters; and
Although this new strategy was published in
the middle of the ICZMap project many of the principles and initiatives
are directly relevant to ICZMap and were predicted in the original
submission by the ICZMap consortium for ISB funding . Some of
the initiatives outlined above require the development of an ICZMap
dataset across the UK if their goals are to be achieved.
2.2.3 Integrated coastal zone management
A primary initiative within the Government's
strategy on Marine Stewardship is the commitment to take forward
the new EU Recommendation on integrated coastal zone management.
The recommendation was adopted in May 2002. Member states have
to undertake a national stocktaking of legislation, institutions
and stakeholders involved in coastal management and, based on
this, develop national strategies to implement integrated coastal
zone management. The stocktaking began in the UK in March 2003.
Some of the national strategies to be developed
should:
— identify the roles of the different
stakeholders and the appropriate mix of measures;
— develop policies and programmes that
address marine and terrestrial areas together;
— identify measures to promote local
and regional initiatives;
— identify sources of durable funding
for integrated coastal zone management initiatives;
— identify mechanisms to ensure co-ordinated
implementation of community legislation; and
— include systems for monitoring and
disseminating information about the coastal zone.
In implementing integrated coastal zone management
in the UK the development of ICZMap as an integrated geographic
dataset is a primary requirement to meet the demands of the national
strategy.
2.2.4 Shoreline management plans
The management of flood and coastal defence
in England and Wales has included, since 1993, the development
of Shoreline management plans (SMPs) as a planning tool. The first
round, which covered the whole coastline of England and Wales,
was completed in 1999. Maps and data from Ordnance Survey, British
Geological Survey and the UK Hydrographic Office were used in
the first round of SMPs. However, they were used in an ad hoc
fashion by the various consultants who compiled the SMPs with
no systematic consistency with regard to scale, detail or data
gleaned from the Ordnance Survey, BGS or UKHO.
Guidance and testing for the next round of SMPs
is currently under way. There is an attempt to provide a consistent
methodology for this new round. ICZMap could provide an integrated
dataset as a primary layer for the next round of SMPs. However
it would require investment and funding to roll out ICZMap for
the whole of England and Wales.
There are 145 local authorities with a responsibility
for the coastline and consequently an interest in the Shoreline
Mangement Plans. From those who tested the ICZMap pilot data the
message was clear that DEFRA needs to support use of such an integrated
and definitive map in the creation of SMPs.
2.3 European legislation and directives that
impact on the coastal zone
There is a growing number of European regulations
and directives that impact on the coastal zone. As well as the
recommendation on integrated coastal zone management described
in 3.3, these include:
— EU directive requiring Strategic
Environmental Assessments for designated policies and programmes,
for example oil, gas and offshore wind farm developments.
— EU Habitats and Birds Directive and
the requirement to identify, map and select Special Areas of Conservation
(SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs).
— EU 6th Environmental Action Programme
objective of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Allied
to this the European Commission has adopted a suite of Biodiversity
Action Plans (BAPs).
— Bathing Water Directive which sets
mandatory water quality standards.
— Shellfish Waters Directive which
aims to protect and improve the quality of waters in shellfish
areas.
— Water Framework Directive includes
coastal areas and aims to achieve demanding water quality targets
by 2015.
ICZMap data would be a primary requirement for
many of the tasks associated with implementing the criteria and
standards associated with this legislation.
2.4 Making GIS benefit Marine Nature Conservation
DEFRA's Review of Marine Nature Conservation
evaluated the success of voluntary and statutory marine nature
conservation measures and identified examples of best practice.
One of the interim recommendations of the review was the implementation
of a Regional Seas Pilot based on the Irish Sea. The pilot sought
to gather as much physical data as possible within a Geographic
Information System (GIS). In its interim report in the summer
of 2003 it looked at the type of data it acquired, its availability,
ease of use and integration into the GIS. It noted that it had
been unable to acquire an integrated coastal dataset; this was
a major deficiency within the GIS and detrimental to the value
of the Pilot in mapping and identifying areas of potential marine
nature conservation.
2.5 Developing renewable energy with ICZMap
The Government has set a target that by 2010
10% of electricity consumed in the UK will be from renewable energy
sources. Offshore wind farms will make a substantial contribution
to meeting this target. These will be sited in the coastal and
nearshore zone off Eastern England, the Thames Estuary, Bristol
Channel and the Irish Sea. They will require a knowledge of the
sea bed and the coast, and have to undertake consent procedures
and environmental assessments. The investment involved is huge
with the market for renewable electricity likely to be around
£1.5 to £2 billion a year by 2010. ICZMap data would
be an important resource in the planning, development and growth
of the industry.
DEFRA and the IACMST are currently reviewing
the processes involved in planning applications for the offshore
industry. Planning regulations require Strategic Environmental
Assessments. These may be in the form of individual reports to
be approved by separate government departments (Dti, EA, DEFRA
and so on). With the government's support of wind farms, for example,
these complications can only be seen as an increasing hindrance
to progress. A "joining-up" of these processes via ICZMap
could support a unified framework to which all parties involved
could refer.
2.6 Coastal forums
Coastal forums and groups have been initiated
around the coast of the UK. They have a wide range of membership
including national and regional organisations, planning authorities,
local groups and stakeholders. They hold regular meetings and
encourage debate and research on coastal issues. They are involved
in developing coastal strategy and have become significant local
and regional partnerships with a strong and co-ordinated voice.
Coastal forums and groups are among the primary
users of coastal data and have long championed the requirement
for integrated data in the coastal zone. They have been actively
engaged in ICZMap through its Steering Group and in evaluating
and testing ICZMap data. In particular, the SCOPAC Group and Dorset
Coastal Forum, which includes the area of the ICZMap South Coast
Pilot Area. The Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum has covered the Milford
Haven ICZMap test area and similarly the Forth Estuary Forum for
the Firth of Forth ICZMap test area.
2.7 Economic
Cash spent on consultancies commissioned by
the EA and DEFRA and others is often used on joining up the three
disparate data sets as the first stage in analysis. ICZMap will
eliminate the necessity for this work, reducing the burden on
Government budgets.
Initiatives such as the Ordnance Survey's Pan
Government Agreement (PGA), are making high end data affordable
for central and local government initiatives.
3. CONCLUSIONS
The pressure for sound and joined-up management
at the coastline is fed by citizen awareness and increasingly
legislated for by the EU and British Government. This drives a
genuine policy need for an integrated digital base map within
which a common reference can be used by all stakeholders.
Those responsible for implementing coastal and
marine environment initiatives are driven by a need to economise
on data handling. Providing data sets that are readily interoperable
will drastically reduce the time spent in data preparation and
independent consultancy. It also provides a common framework upon
which decisions at the coastline could be shared.
Roll out of the integrating methods identified
by the BGS, Ordnance Survey and UKHO during the ICZMap pilot study
need to be supported by Government in order to meet the broad
requirements of the coastal stakeholders.
12 September 2003
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