4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313234383037 English Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en 2026-03-03T11:14:43.88Z NRW 1.0 wel Latitude and Longitude (EPSG::4326) Marine Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) Pathways Heatmaps for Wales 2020 Marine Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) Pathways Heatmaps for Wales 2020 Mapiau Gwres o Lwybrau Rhywogaethau Estron Goresgynnol Morol ar gyfer Cymru 2020 ABPmer INNS Pathway Maps All pathways combined at 2km grid.lyr All pathways combined at 5km grid.lyr 2022-08-12 NRW_DS124807 Heatmaps (geodatabases) were created for invasive non-native species pathways in Welsh waters including commercial shipping, recreational boating, aquaculture, fishing and offshore activities. Heatmaps were produced at both 2km x 2km and 5km x 5km resolutions and have associated symbology layers. An overall heatmap was also produced to highlight key areas which are likely most at risk from invasion of invasive non-native species. This assessment provides a valuable insight into hotspots related to each potential pathway of introduction, the areas where the main areas of risk overlap for the different pathways and their overlap with protected areas. The outputs from this assessment can form the basis to underpin biosecurity planning. It should be noted, however, that this was a national scale mapping exercise based only on freely available datasets, which themselves have limitations and possible inaccuracies due to incomplete coverage, both temporally and spatially. The scorings applied to the input datasets and weightings applied to the introduction pathways are also based on available literature and expert judgement. Site-specific activities and conditions will always be an important consideration, as well as temporal variations. Heatmaps (geodatabases) were created for invasive non-native species pathways in Welsh waters including commercial shipping, recreational boating, aquaculture, fishing and offshore activities. Heatmaps were produced at both 2km x 2km and 5km x 5km resolutions and have associated symbology layers. An overall heatmap was also produced to highlight key areas which are likely most at risk from invasion of invasive non-native species. This assessment provides a valuable insight into hotspots related to each potential pathway of introduction, the areas where the main areas of risk overlap for the different pathways and their overlap with protected areas. The outputs from this assessment can form the basis to underpin biosecurity planning. It should be noted, however, that this was a national scale mapping exercise based only on freely available datasets, which themselves have limitations and possible inaccuracies due to incomplete coverage, both temporally and spatially. The scorings applied to the input datasets and weightings applied to the introduction pathways are also based on available literature and expert judgement. Site-specific activities and conditions will always be an important consideration, as well as temporal variations. Crëwyd mapiau gwres (geo-gronfeydd data) ar gyfer llwybrau rhywogaethau estron goresgynnol yn nyfroedd Cymru gan gynnwys llongau masnachol, cychod hamdden, dyframaethu, pysgota a gweithgareddau ar y môr. Cynhyrchwyd mapiau gwres ar raddfa 2km x 2km a 5km x 5km ac mae ganddynt haenau symbolaidd cysylltiedig. Cynhyrchwyd map gwres cyffredinol hefyd i dynnu sylw at ardaloedd allweddol sy'n fwyaf tebygol o gael eu goresgyn gan rywogaethau estron goresgynnol. Mae'r asesiad hwn yn rhoi trosolwg gwerthfawr o fannau problemus sy'n gysylltiedig â phob llwybr cyflwyno posibl, y lleoedd lle mae'r prif ardaloedd risg yn gorgyffwrdd ar gyfer y gwahanol lwybrau a'r mannau lle maent yn gorgyffwrdd ag ardaloedd gwarchodedig. Gall allbynnau'r asesiad hwn fod yn sail i gynlluniau bioddiogelwch. Dylid nodi, fodd bynnag, mai ymarfer mapio ar raddfa genedlaethol oedd hwn yn seiliedig ar setiau data sydd ar gael am ddim ac yn rhwydd yn unig. Mae gan y rhain gyfyngiadau ac anghywirdebau posibl oherwydd cofnodion anghyflawn, yn amserol ac yn ofodol. Mae'r sgoriau a gymhwysir i’r setiau data a ddefnyddiwyd a'r pwysoliadau a gymhwysir i'r llwybrau cyflwyno hefyd yn seiliedig ar y llenyddiaeth sydd ar gael a barn arbenigol. Bydd gweithgareddau ac amodau safle-benodol bob amser yn ystyriaeth bwysig, yn ogystal ag amrywiadau amserol. Cydnabyddiaeth: Yn cynnwys gwybodaeth Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru © Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru a hawl cronfa ddata. Cedwir pob hawl. Y Gymdeithas Hwylio Frenhinol (RYA) (h) 2022. (h) Ystâd y Goron. Hawlfraint (h) Cedwir pob hawl. ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd 2022. (h) Canolfan Gwyddorau'r Amgylchedd, Pysgodfeydd a Dyframaethu (Cefas). Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd Suite B, Waterside House, Town Quay, Southampton, SO14 2AQ, England enquiries@abpmer.co.uk http://www.abpmer.co.uk/ Land use GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeutheme-theme activities invasive species (alien species) Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) NRW Thesaurus 2025-01-08 geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-keywords Habitat characterisation SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary 2024-06-19 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.rdf+xml There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely. no limitations © CNC/NRW All rights Reserved. © RYA. © Crown Estate. © ABPmer. © Cefas. Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and copyright of the owners. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose. Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved. Royal Yachting Association (RYA) © 2022. © The Crown Estate. Copyright © All Rights Reserved. ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd 2022. © Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). Open Government Licence English environment SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 unknown Wales (WLS) -5.777741 -2.608865 51.240829 53.513067 2019-01-01 2019-12-31 Dewey, N., Pack, K, Williamson, D, Walsh, A. 2020. Welsh Marine Invasive Non-Native Pathways Assessment NRW Evidence Report No: 459, 105pp, Natural Resources Wales, Bangor Welsh Marine Invasive Non-Native Species Pathways Assessment Geographic Information System GIS layers which accompany the report titled 'Welsh Marine Invasive Non-Native Species Pathways Assessment' https://datamap.gov.wales/layergroups/geonode:nrw_marine_inns_pathways_heatmaps_for_wales_2020 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link View and Download https://datamap.gov.wales/capabilities/layergroup/3602/?ows_service=wms OGC:WMS Web Mapping Service Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 This dataset has not been assessed for conformance to the referenced INSPIRE regulation. false The approach applied in this study, used data acquired from readily available, open licence sources where possible. A hexagonal grid, clipped to the extent of the Welsh marine planning area, with cell size of 5 km2 was created in ArcGIS and this was spatially joined to input data layers, representative of the introduction pathways, to create heatmaps. A series of heatmaps were created for each of the introduction pathways, using a scaled scoring method. A final combined heatmap of all introduction pathways was also created by applying weightings to the different pathways. Figures of all heatmaps were created, as well as figures of designated sites overlying the final combined heatmap to show sites at potentially greater risk from the introduction of marine INNS. The Celtic Sea (including Welsh and Irish waters) has approximately two to three new introductions of non-indigenous species every year (European Environment Agency (EEA), 2015; 2019a). Identifying coastal areas where invasive non-native species (INNS) are more likely to be introduced is a valuable tool which will help to focus management efforts and identify sensitive areas which may be at a higher risk. Mapping the intensity of introduction pathway activities can aid the identification of these higher risk areas. This associated report provides an update to the work carried out by Tidbury et al. in 2014, which considered the potential for the introduction of INNS in coastal areas of UK and Ireland using a 50 km x 50 km grid. This study focuses only on Welsh waters and at a higher spatial resolution than the original study. The approach applied in this study, used data acquired from readily available, open licence sources where possible. A hexagonal grid, clipped to the extent of the Welsh marine planning area, with cell size of 5 km2 was created in ArcGIS and this was spatially joined to input data layers, representative of the introduction pathways, to create heatmaps. A series of heatmaps were created for each of the introduction pathways, using a scaled scoring method. A final combined heatmap of all introduction pathways was also created by applying weightings to the different pathways. Figures of all heatmaps were created, as well as figures of designated sites overlying the final combined heatmap to show sites at potentially greater risk from the introduction of marine INNS. The Celtic Sea (including Welsh and Irish waters) has approximately two to three new introductions of non-indigenous species every year (European Environment Agency (EEA), 2015; 2019a). Identifying coastal areas where invasive non-native species (INNS) are more likely to be introduced is a valuable tool which will help to focus management efforts and identify sensitive areas which may be at a higher risk. Mapping the intensity of introduction pathway activities can aid the identification of these higher risk areas. This associated report provides an update to the work carried out by Tidbury et al. in 2014, which considered the potential for the introduction of INNS in coastal areas of UK and Ireland using a 50 km x 50 km grid. This study focuses only on Welsh waters and at a higher spatial resolution than the original study.