QGIS project

QGIS logoJump to...

An increasing number of ecologists and biological recorders are using this free GIS software to help them visualise, explore and analyse spatial data. QGIS is a freely available open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) which, thanks to a community of dedicated and talented developers and an active and vocal user community, matches the functionality and usability of commercial products like MapInfo and ArcGIS.

The Tomorrow's Biodiversity project has produced a plugin to QGIS called the FSC Tom.bio Productivity Tools which streamlines many of the GIS tasks commonly required by biological recorders, such as looking at their own data alongside that from the NBN Gateway.

The outputs of this project directly support some of the other projects (e.g. the Spider project), but it is also an example, in its own right, of how FSC can provide products and training to biological recorders at the very top of the engagement pyramid. A key aim of the FSC Tomorrow’s Biodiversity project is to explore the utility of providing follow-up support and mentoring to learners after they leave the classroom and this QGIS project will be a good vehicle to try out ideas in that regard.

Although the initial QGIS Tom.bio plugin development was completed in November 2014, new releases continue to be made to account for new releases of QGIS, small bugs, enhancements etc. The full revision history of the Tom.bio plugin can be seen here: Tom.bio QGIS plugin revision history (select the 'versions' tab).

2015 activities

In 2015 we are established a new QGIS training programme geared specifically to biological recorders and naturalists. We initially planned to deliver 2 one-day workshops and a longer course, but demand was such that we had to schedule another couple of one-day workshops. The QGIS training events were scheduled as follows:

  • One-day workshop for biological recorders, Chester Zoo, 12th March
  • One-day workshop for biological recorders, Preston Montford, 2nd April
  • One-day workshop for biological recorders, Preston Montford, 2nd May
  • One-day workshop for biological recorders, Preston Montford, 28th May
  • One-day workshop for biological recorders, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, 11th June
  • 2½ day course for ecologists & biological recorders, Preston Montford, 26th - 28th August
  • One-day workshop for biological recorders, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, 14th September

Rich giving QGIS & Tom.bio tool demo at NFBR 2015 (photo P. Lightfoot)

As well as the formal courses, we also produced a number of training videos for the Tom.bio QGIS plugin:

On April 23rd Rich attended the annual conference of the NFBR which, this year, was a joint event in collaboration with the British Ecological Society’s Macroecology Special Interest Group, to give a presentation on, and demonstration of, the QGIS Tom.bio plugin. This was very well received and there was a great deal of interest, both in QGIS and the Tom.bio plugin.

2016 activities

We released a new version of the QGIS plugin which incorporated a link to online help pages hosted on the website.

In 2016 we changed the format of our one-day courses. Instead of trying to cover both an introduction to QGIS and an introduction to the TomBio QGIS plugin in a single day, we separated these into two separate one-day courses running back to back. Participants could choose to attend one or the other or both events. This format proved more successful that trying to squeeze everything into a single day. Furthermore we trialled an expansion of our QGIS training provision by working with Matt Davies as an associate FSC tutor to deliver two residential courses (the last two on the list below).

  • 3½ day residential course, Preston Montord, 19th-22nd February
  • One-day introduction to QGIS, Preston Montford, 5th May
  • One-day introduction to the TomBio QGIS Plugin, Preston Montford, 6th May
  • One-day introduction to QGIS, Cumbria Wildlife Trust,  29th June
  • One-day introduction to the TomBio QGIS Plugin, Cumbria Wildlife Trust,  29th June
  • One-day introduction to QGIS, Preston Montford, 26th October
  • One-day introduction to the TomBio QGIS Plugin, Preston Montford, 27th October
  • 2½ day residential course, Juniper Hall, 18th-20th November
  • 2½ day residential course, Slapton Ley, 21st-23rd November

We produced more training videos for QGIS branded under a 'How do I...' banner, mostly in response to individual questions and requests for support received from a number of people. For example:

On September 3rd Rich delivered a demonstration on how QGIS can be used with the TomBio plugin to quickly produced species distribution maps to the annual Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) recorder's conference and the Gateway in Shrewsbury. The demonstration was well received and it was heartening to realise, in the question and answer session, that several people in the room were already using the plugin!

2017 activities

The following courses are planned for 2017. For more details, go to our upcoming courses page.

  • One-day introduction to QGIS, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, 6th January
  • 3½ day residential course, Preston Montord, 17th-20th February
  • One-day introduction to QGIS, Preston Montford, 24th July
  • One-day introduction to the TomBio QGIS Plugin, Preston Montford, 25th July
  • 2½ day residential course, Slapton Ley, 21st-23rd August

Blog posts, articles etc