Metadata

Data is available on a county by county basis only from the mapviewer. The NPWS GIS unit use Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) 1:10560 raster scans transformed to the National Grid. The transformation process results in mismatches between county boundaries. For this reason data is only available on a county by county basis.

Please check the Internet Map Viewer online Help viewer for assistance with the download option.

To download by county

1. Click on the Download button. The system opens a form to allow you to specify the county and format required.
2. Select the county required from the dropdown list provided.
3. Select the format that you required the data in from the dropdown list provided.
4. Click the Download button to start the download. When the download is competed a link to a zip file will be displayed and you can download the data to you own machine.

The following download formats are available;

• Autodesk AutoCAD DWG/DXF
• Microstation Design Files (DGN)
• ESRI Shapefile
• MapInfo TAB
• ESRI ArcInfo Export (E00)

The extracted data is placed in a zip file with a randomly generated name. We suggest that you rename this file with the correct county code, or name, as well as the designation type, when saving it to your system. The files contained within the zip file should also be renamed as required.

Metadata

Name: User assigned
Format: User choice
Base Mapping used to generate data: OSI 6" (1:10560) raster scans transformed to Nat. Grid
Data Capture: Heads up digitising using Arc/Info 8.x and 9. ESRI coverage model
Data Storage: The NPWS Internet Map Viewer Oracle/SDE
Attributes: Assuming that the data format requested supports attribute data, the following attribute data should be present:
DESIG: The designation type, either NHA, SAC or SPA.
PTYPE: Used to identify those part of the site which are designated i.e. ptype 1 or 3 are part of the site. Blanks or ptypes of 2 are exclusions.
COUNTY: The county the sites occur in. Please note that due to issues with the Cassini derived OSI 6" maps county boundaries may not match.
SITE_NAME: Designation name
SITECODE: Designation number
VERSION: The update version of the site.
SINUMBER: The statutory instrument number, if assigned.
CO_ID:The county ID assigned by NPWS. Not required.

Updates

This data set in undergoing constant change, both with regard to geographic extent and legal status, due to the appeals procedure and the ongoing process of designation. The updates table shows the date when a designation was last updated.

Notes for use of the website species data

No personal details are provided with the records.  NPWS does not claim ownership over all of the records presented here, except where they were collected as part of an NPWS funded study, or by staff working on behalf of NPWS; While NPWS acknowledges the time and effort of those who made the records, it does not post personal information on the web;
Species records included on the website are for those species listed in:

• Wildlife Acts 1976 and 2000.
• Flora (Protection) Order  (S.I. No. 94 of 1999)
• Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (the EU Habitats Directive)
• Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the Conservation of Wild Birds (the EU Birds Directive)

No negative records are included (i.e. noting that a species was not found on a subsequent visit, or the site is no longer suitable), as these are too suggestive.

The following attributes are listed:

• Species Name
• Location
• 10km² Grid square
• Full grid reference where available
• Status (whether red listed, protected etc… see above)

Searches are undertaken at 10km² level, but data for records not considered sensitive are given with as full a grid reference as is available in the resulting query.

The National Biodiversity Data Centres online map-viewer available at http://maps.biodiversityireland.ie has a more complete list of species records for Ireland, and includes most of the data available here.