eCountability directors Bill Butcher and Jo Treweek have joined with co-authors Lisa Norton, Pete Carey and Bob Edmonds in challenging the environmental consultancy profession to review the use of habitat classifications in the UK. In a leading article in the professional journal of the Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) the authors argue that traditional classifications such as Phase 1 are no longer fit-for-purpose when users demand spatially-referenced, quantitative habitat data that can precisely track changes over time. The paper calls on the CIEEM to initiate a wide ranging debate in the profession and beyond, and to oversee the development of a new approach that can support consistent use in survey and monitoring of ecosystems, habitats, land cover and land use.