Natural England - Landscape
Landscape
England’s natural environment includes a wide range of landscapes that are formed by many factors, including the underlying soils, climate, habitats – and human influence, both past and present.
Langdale Tops
Our landscapes extend from the upland hills to the lowlands, through to the urban fringe, into the networks of green space in our cities, towns and villages, and on to our varied coastal seascapes.
England’s landscapes are valued by people for a variety of reasons and each is characterised by its own pattern of geology, landform, soils, vegetation, land use and human settlement, which create local distinctiveness.
Landscape is more than just 'the view'. It is about the complex, interacting natural and cultural systems that make up each landscape and it is also about the relationship between people, place and nature.
It is the ever-changing backdrop to our daily lives. It can mean a small patch of urban wasteland as much as a mountain range, and an urban park as much as a lowland plain.
Natural England's role
Natural England is the Government's statutory advisor on landscape, with specific responsibilities for National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Heritage Coasts.
Our work contributes to conserving and enhancing our landscapes and their local distinctiveness. It includes influencing policy makers to consider the different types of landscape character of rural, urban and coastal landscapes, when taking decisions.
Natural England’s regions
We work at the regional and local level on a range of landscape initiatives. For example, we influence planners to allow for good quality green space close to where people live.
You can find out more about landscapes in your area, and news and events at regional level, by selecting one of our regions on the left.
Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition
Entry for 'The Landscape Photographer of the Year 2009' has now closed
To view the winning entries, please visit the Take a View website.