State of the Natural Environment 2008

 

The State of the Natural Environment 2008 brings together for the first time Natural England's evidence base on the current state of our natural environment.

The report demonstrates that the natural environment in England is much less rich than 50 years ago and remains under pressure from a significant range of threats. It illustrates the impact of those threats on our landscapes and biodiversity.

Natural England is, in its Manifesto for the Natural Environment, calling for action to be taken now by national, regional and local government, businesses and communities to put England on a greener path to a more secure future, while conserving the nation's rich and diverse natural environment.

Natural England have also produced a summary of key findings and figures for the South East.

The South East has more Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (33% of England total), more broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland (30%), and more lowland heath (40%) than any other region in England. The South East also has over 60% of England's vegetated shingle resource.

There are 227 Local Nature Reserves and 58 Country Parks in the South East, the highest in any region. 3 million people a year visit the 37 National Nature Reserves in our region.

However, some of the region's finest landscapes are diverging from their valued character or suffering from management neglect. There have been significant losses of saltmarsh to sea level rise across 12 Special Protection Areas in the South East.

This comes against a background of serious losses within England's natural environment over the last 50 years or so. Our farmland is now much less rich in wildlife. Although there is much grassland, only 3% of it is now rich in plant species. Farmland birds have declined by over a half since the 1970s. Many of the surviving wildlife-rich sites form a small, isolated and fragmented resource. There have also been major declines in moths, butterflies and bumblebees over the past few decades.

However, in the last decade, there has been a levelling off in the long-term decline of a number of indicator species including farmland birds (for whom decline has continued in the South East) and butterflies. However, woodland-based forna, birds and butterflies are all continuing to decline.

Open waters are in perhaps the worst condition of all habitats, even where legally protected. Wetland species are suffering with, for example, eels declining by 90% since the mid-1980s and water voles the most rapidly declining mammal.

Where collected, evidence demonstrates that landscapes designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) - there are 692 in the South East - are in better condition than non-designated areas. However this data is only partial and natural habitat and biodiversity analysis remains too dependant upon SSSI condition surveys. National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are also in good condition. Agri-environment schemes, where applied, have been partially successful in maintaining the condition of the local environment.

 

Dated 19/05/2008

Read More

Owning Organisation

Natural England - http://www.naturalengland.org.uk

Data Type

Research Report

Spatial Coverage

National and Regional

Theme

Economy, Society, Environment