In this issue >>>
What’s New?
Latest News
Tool Improvements
MAGIC Facts & Figures
Grey Seal Breeding Colonies (GB)
MAGIC Tweets & Feedback
MAGIC Top Tip
May 2017
Welcome to this issue of the MAGIC
newsletter where we bring you all the latest
news about what’s happening with MAGIC
These last few months we have been busy adding new datasets to
MAGIC. Some examples can be seen below:
Lower Super Output Areas with Rural Definition 2011
(England & Wales)
Latest News
Coming Soon…
Work is under way to give the
MAGIC website a refresh. We hope
this, coupled with the recent tool
enhancements will improve your
experience of using MAGIC.
MAGIC update dates
The next updates are planned for:
Wednesday 7th June
Wednesday 5th July
Wednesday 9th August
Click here to keep up to date with
all the Latest News on MAGIC
Lower Super Output Areas give an improved basis for comparison of
statistics across the country because the units are more similar in
size of population than, for example, electoral wards. They are also
We are always interested in how you
use MAGIC. If you would like to
provide a case study for the
newsletter, please contact us at
[email protected]
intended to be stable, enabling the improved comparison and
monitoring of policy over time.
Countryside Stewardship Agreement Management Areas
(England)
January 2017 – March 2017
MAGIC Facts & Figures
Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides financial incentives for land
managers to look after their environment through activities such as
conserving and restoring wildlife habitats, flood risk management and
reducing widespread water pollution from agriculture. This data can
be used alongside the data already existing in Magic to show where
public funding is being used to achieve the new scheme objectives.
Seabird Oil Sensitivity Index 2016 (GB)
The Seabird Oil Sensitivity Index (SOSI) is a tool which aids planning
and emergency decision making with regards to oil pollution. It
identifies areas at sea where seabirds are likely to be most sensitive
to oil pollution. It is based on seabird survey data collected from 1995
to 2015, from a wide survey area extending beyond the UK
Continental Shelf using boat-based, visual aerial, and digital video
aerial survey techniques.
This seabird data was combined with individual seabird species
sensitivity index values. These index values are based on a number
of factors which are considered to contribute towards the sensitivity of
seabirds to oil pollution.
The combined seabird data and species sensitivity index values are
subsequently summed at each location to create a single measure of
seabird sensitivity to oil pollution. This is presented on MAGIC as the
median sensitivity layer for each month, which represents the most
likely assessment of seabird sensitivity to oil pollution.

Monday 20th March saw the
highest number of users (3,996) in
a single day.

The average number of daily user
sessions was 2,786.

Over 9 million maps were
generated at the end of each
month.

The table below shows the
mapping themes available in
MAGIC. Over the last 3 months
the most popular theme by far has
been ‘Designations’ followed by
‘Habitats & Species’ and ‘CS
Targeting & Scoring Layers’
Tool Improvements
We have been making some improvements to our existing tools. The Marine Licensing Team (MMO) has
kindly provided the case study below for the Drawing Tools improvement.
Case Study >>>
Making it easier to identify and upload coordinates when applying for a Marine Licence from the
Marine Management Organisation
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive non-departmental public body established
under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The MMO are responsible for issuing licences
authorising certain activities in English waters of the UK marine area and for certain activities undertaken
by British vessels in seas and oceans around the world. These activities range from significant port or
wind farm developments to simple slipway repairs.
To support those wishing to apply for a marine licence, the MMO operate an online application and case
management system . When a person applies for a marine licence, they will need to enter the
coordinates of where their activity (or activities) are taking place. The online system can accept ESRI
shapefiles, Mapinfo TAB files, KML files and Excel files. Coordinates can also be entered manually for
those individuals who wish to do so. Sometimes the applicant will already know their coordinates,
perhaps from using third party GIS software, but in many cases individuals are using the online system
for the first time and do not know what their coordinates are, don’t have access to the software to tell
them, or don’t even understand what shapefiles and coordinates are used for.
There are lots of online places to identify coordinates, but almost no places to draw a point, line or
polygon on a map and export that image as a shapefile.
MAGIC can help!
Because MAGIC is Defra’s publically facing GIS environmental mapping system and it includes a
drawing and ESRI shapefile export function, which can be uploaded directly into the MMO’s online
system, it makes it an ideal place to direct applicants needing to work out the coordinates of their project.
However, until recently the shapefile exported by MAGIC did not include all the necessary information to
be properly recognised as an ESRI shapefile. An ESRI shapefile requires four files (.dbf, .shp, .shx and
.prj) whereas MAGIC was exporting a .zip file with only three files within – it was missing the projection
(.prj) file.
Following the recent update to MAGIC, the exported
.zip now includes all four file extensions. This now
means applicants can easily self-serve and upload all
the necessary coordinate information into the MMO’s
online system.
This small but significant improvement will reduce
several enquiries a week to the MMO from applicants
struggling to work out their coordinates. This is all possible because of the addition of the .prj file.
The MMO is about to start a project to update our guidance on GOV.UK and we are exploring
improvements to our online system. We will use this as an opportunity to promote MAGIC as the place
for creating the shapefile for those users who do not have access to GIS software.
Case Study >>>
Wendy Bridges from the Rural Payments Agency has kindly submitted the case study below for
the Search for a Feature tool improvement.
I have used MAGIC regularly over the years to see the boundaries of common land in order that it can
be correctly mapped and deal with customers’ queries regarding commons.
Whilst using MAGIC it was becoming very time consuming to find all the commons areas that related to
a common when it was made up of multiple parts (especially in Devon and Yorkshire). I used to have to
do the search, select a parcel, then re-do the search and select another parcel – up to 15/20 times to get
the full picture.
Also several commons have the same name around the country (and all have the same common
number in each county) so trying to pull all of the correct parcels for the same common was proving very
time consuming and the risk of errors from missing a parcel or selecting the incorrect one was high.
I emailed Magic and suggested the possibility
of having tick boxes alongside all the parcels
displayed, so I could select all the relevant
ones and it would display with “one
click”. They advised me that this suggestion
would be forwarded to their technical team.
I was pleased to see that they had taken the
comments on board and over the moon that
this has now been implemented (little things
please me!). It is so much easier to search
for a whole common now, which saves so
much time, and the data produced should be
accurate.
In addition, they liked the suggestion so much that they developed the tool generically so any users can
apply this function to all layers in MAGIC so this suggestion has no doubt benefitted many companies
and individuals that use the system (thanks in the form of chocolate gratefully received!).
A cool new tool for you!
Searching for a dataset
There are over 300 datasets on MAGIC and we appreciate it can be difficult to find the one you want
when you are not sure which theme it sits in. To make it easier we have added the Search for Layers
tool
to the interactive map.
Begin by typing a keyword into the search box and the results will begin to automatically filter.
You can then select a dataset and display it on the map.
MAGIC on Twitter
We are continuing to use the Natural England Twitter account to promote
MAGIC and below are just some of the tweets we have sent out this quarter.
Don’t forget to follow and RT!
To keep up to date
with the latest MAGIC
news follow the
Natural England Chief
Scientist twitter
account
“This website has to be one of
the most informative and
interesting website around.
Full marks to all the team and,
I guess, DEFRA for funding it.
Long may it continue.”
“Hi
A great resource which I use
frequently.”
“Magic maps have been
getting better and better.
Thanks.”
“Thank you so much for your
support and info.
As it is, Magic is a fantastic
tool, for various reasons, but
the land user area indication
for Stewardship was the icing
on the cake.
Thank you once again.”
Feedback and comments on the MAGIC website
is very much appreciated and will help us to
improve the site. Please contact us at
[email protected]
MAGIC top tip
Using the Legend Tool
This tool is useful if you wish to see a legend only for your selected layers.
From the Feature Tools select the
Legend tool.
A legend will appear in a new window over the map.
Only layers you have selected and which are visible at
your chosen scale will be shown.
If you have selected a large number of layers you will
need to use the scroll bar on the right hand side of the
pop-up window to see all the legend.
The legend window can be moved around the screen by clicking on the black banner at the top of
the pop-up window and dragging it elsewhere on the screen.
More detailed information on how to use the Feature
Tools can be found here
Further info >>>
MAGIC Help Library
FAQ
The MAGIC partners:
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Historic England
Natural England
Environment Agency
Forestry Commission
Marine Management Organisation
Contacts >>>
For support: [email protected]
To provide feedback: [email protected]
Feedback and comments on the MAGIC website is very much
appreciated and will help us to improve the site.
We aim to respond to your email as soon as possible but at the
latest within 10 working days