Summary

Join this self-led course with weekly tutor support sessions to build on your existing QGIS skills, to learn how to use the software to carry out a BNG assessment.

Description

Conducting a BNG assessment is now mandatory for most new developments. It is a new area of work and one that ecologists, particularly consultants, are having to adopt. Conducting these assessments requires specialist technical skills, and can be carried out using the freely available, open-source mapping software, QGIS.

The course is suitable for delegates familiar with the QGIS interface who have been using the product for at least three months. Ideally they will have attended an introductory level QGIS course. The course will be delivered online (via Zoom), using a range of tried and tested techniques including presentations, demonstrations, individual exercises and case studies.

The course builds on delegates QGIS skills, and equips them with the specific skills needed to carry out a BNG assessment. It covers how to integrate pre-development habitat data, that they would have collected via field survey, with proposed development data, often provided by a (landscape) architect. The course will cover working with CAD data in QGIS, which is very often needed in a BNG assessment. It will also enable delegates to confidently use NE’s BNG QGIS project, together with NE’s Import to BNG Metric Excel tool.

Each week delegates will watch demonstration videos and then undertake practical exercises (instruction documents and data will be provided). Delegates will then have the option to join the tutor for two, 1 hour live sessions to explore the topics covered. Overall, the approach will allow delegates to learn from wherever they are based, at their own pace, to have some tutor contact, and to gain hands-on experience needed to confidently implement GIS projects in the workplace.

The Tutor led sessions will be at 10:00am for 1 hour on the following dates: 1st May and the 15th May. Although these are not essential, we do recommend that you attend these sessions. This will be your opportunity to ask questions and seek support for the self-led work. These sessions will not be recorded.

Who Should Attend?

Ecological Consultants, Wildlife Trusts, Land Managers, Rangers, Statutory Agency staff, conservation practitioners, students.

Knowledge Level

Intermediate

Prior Knowledge

Good basic working knowledge of QGIS including the ability to carry out the following operations:
- Create projects from existing vector and raster data
- Symbolise layers
- Digitise points, lines and polygons
- Broad awareness of Biodiversity Net Gain and the NE BNG metric

Learning Outcomes

• Set up a QGIS form for ease of data input in the office or field.
• Integrate a range of datasets commonly used in BNG assessments.
• Geo-reference a raster field survey map for use in QGIS.
• Work with CAD data in QGIS (add, symbolise, re-position, covert to other formats).
• Create pre and proposed development habitat datasets using advanced digitising tools.
• Work with the NE BNG QGIS project, including exporting data to the BNG Metric using NE tools.