Mycelia’s Ecology Risks tool checks uploaded Biodiversity Metrics for common risk factors.
This is a significant step forward in how software can help in assessing ecological data. We’re very grateful to Greater Cambridge Shared Planning and MHCLG, who supported this development through the PropTech Innovation Programme.
When you upload a Metric, you can find the Ecology Risks page from the Ecology Risks button just to the left of the map on the Case Overview page:
The risk factors are based on input from many local government ecologists across the country, who have told us about the issues they most commonly see when checking through Metric data.
The aims of this feature are to:
- Help ecologists to spot these risk factors without having to comb through the Metric data manually.
- Help others in LPA teams to get a sense of whether there are risks present which might need attention from an ecologist.
This doesn’t replace the need for expert ecological assessment – computers can’t replace ecologists. But it saves everyone lots of time, and flags risks that are otherwise hard to spot.
Current ecology risk checks
Below are the Ecology Risk checks currently available in Mycelia. These are a starting point, and can be adjusted and added to over time based on your feedback (please email mycelia-support@verna.earth with any thoughts).
Baseline: Risks associated with the assessment of baseline habitats
- Risk 1: High proportion of baseline area habitats in Poor condition
- Risk 2: High proportion of baseline hedgerows in Poor condition
- Risk 3: High proportion of baseline watercourses in Poor morphological condition
- Risk 4: Potential for unrecorded Open Mosaic Habitat
- Risk 5: Potential for unrecorded Irreplaceable Habitat
- Risk 6: Potential for unrecorded habitats of higher distinctiveness
Interventions: Risks associated with the proposed interventions, e.g. creations and enhancements
- Risk 7: Creation or enhancement of Traditional Orchard
- Risk 8: Development footprint may be missing
- Risk 9: Interventions targeting Good condition with High / Very High difficulty
- Risk 10: Wetland proposed when there is no wetland in the baseline
- Risk 11: Creation of vertical habitats
Losses: Risks associated with loss of important or irreplaceable habitats
- Risk 12: Metric indicates necessary bespoke compensation has been agreed
- Risk 13: Metric indicates necessary bespoke compensation has not been agreed
- Risk 14: Permanent loss of natural watercourse
Size, length, trees: Risks associated with area, length, or numbers of trees
- Risk 15: Individual trees without supporting comments
- Risk 16: Habitats with zero size
- Risk 17: Missing Habitat Reference Numbers