Guidance

How to access Natural England's maps and data

Find out the best way to download and use Natural England's data relating to the natural environment.

Natural England makes much of its data available to planners, developers, land managers and academics to help with decisions and support sustained environmental improvements. The data can be viewed or downloaded for use in a geographic information system (GIS).

Interactive mapping and data download from MAGIC

The MAGIC website provides interactive mapping of the natural environment from across government. You don’t need specialist software and can access maps using a standard web browser. See T1 in the MAGIC FAQ for browsers that are supported.

MAGIC also provides dataset listings and options for existing data download services. The MAGIC download facility allows you to download directly from the MAGIC web page or link to another website where the responsible authority holds their data.

Natural England’s data

The list of data supplied by Natural England (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 231KB) provides information about the data and its availability:

you don’t need to submit a data request if data is publicly available - to download click the link in column F
when you download the data you are provided with a link to the licence for that dataset - note the copyright acknowledgement text to use on maps
to find data that isn’t publicly available, filter column C to “Available on request for projects meeting Natural England’s core purpose” and make a data request following the instructions in Contractors and partners using geographic data

Data available on DATA.GOV.UK

See the Natural England data products available on DATA.GOV.UK. Each record includes links to download the data and further information.

Open Data

Pre-defined searches on DATA.GOV.UK for Natural England’s Open Data:

Published under Natural England’s terms of use

Pre-defined searches on DATA.GOV.UK for data published under Natural England’s terms of use.

Contact Natural England

If you cannot find the data you need on the MAGIC website or the list of data supplied by Natural England (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 231KB) and
have any further queries about either set of downloads, email NaturalEnglandGIDataManagers@naturalengland.org.uk.

If you want to use data for commercial purposes which are only available under Natural England’s terms of use contact Natural England’s enquiry service enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk as you may need to apply for a commercial licence.

If you have any feedback about data we have published or should publish in the future please contact opendata@naturalengland.org.uk.

Contractors and partners using geographic data

Follow the process below if you are a contractor recently awarded a contract with Natural England or working in a partnership with Natural England.

Make a data request

download and complete the Natural England contractors’ and partners’ data request form
download and complete the list of data supplied by Natural England (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 231KB) by selecting the datasets in column D

Select the required licence for your data request

The data request form above describes the contractors’ licences required for each set of data available. Fill out all details highlighted in yellow in the appropriate licence documents.

Download Natural England data request and licence forms

Send the data request by email

Email the data request form, the data spreadsheet and associated licence(s) to NaturalEnglandGIDataManagers@naturalengland.org.uk.

Next steps

Natural England will make sure your application is an authorised use of the data with the correct licence(s) in place and send you the appropriate data or register you for the partner data catalogue - where you can select and download the data you need.

Geographic data supply service standards

Natural England is committed to excellent customer service when supplying geographic data or responding to enquiries. Natural England’s data managers have service standards where they commit to:

respond to your initial email within 10 working days
send data within 10 working days of receipt of the data request form, data spreadsheet and licence(s) for data that is on the DataShare website or owned/held by Natural England
be helpful and properly trained to deal with your request
making sure you receive data in a timely way
inform you of other services where geographic data is publicly available
inform you of any delays, if there is a high demand for data

Note: data not owned or held by Natural England may take longer to supply than suggested above.

In return, Natural England expects that:

the person at the organisation who uses the data supplied is the person who reads and completes the data request form and licence(s)
the correct acknowledgements/copyright are used for data depending on which licence is used
the data request form and licence agreement is returned within 10 working days of receiving it
hard drives with data are returned promptly and within 5 working days
the job number is quoted in all correspondence so it can be referenced quickly
on receipt of data you will confirm within 5 working days that:
- you have received all the data you expected
- the data opens and displays correctly
- the data request can be closed

Note: if all information is not received within the timescales above the job will be archived. If the data request form and licence(s) are sent after 10 working days, the job will be reactivated, but will be placed in a queue.

Terms and conditions for use of data

Natural England has made many of its geographic datasets available under the Open Government Licence (OGL).

The OGL is designed to give anyone - businesses, individuals, charities and community groups - a perpetual licence to re-use public sector information for either commercial or non-commercial use without having to pay or get specific permission.

The relevant licence is stated in the record on DATA.GOV.UK along with any special licence conditions or acknowledgements. Natural England no longer publishes data under separate OGL documents.

If constraints such as third party intellectual property rights do not allow the use of the OGL the data will be published under Natural England’s terms of use for information and data (PDF, 149KB, 19 pages) .