Natural England - State of the natural environment in the South West

State of the natural environment in the South West

The natural environment matters. The State of the Natural Environment report 2008 brings together for the first time the evidence we have about the current situation in 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 identifies the impact of those threats on our landscapes and biodiversity.

Why it matters

The state of the natural environment matters to everyone in the South West. It is an essential regional asset that provides the foundations for our economic and social well being.

A healthy natural environment provides essential public services, such as

Clean air, clean water and productive soils
Support for economic activity and sustainable energy production
Security against the impacts of climate change
A natural health service, contributing to people's health and wellbeing
Places to experience and enjoy the natural world

The South West report

The State of the Natural Environment in the South West report brings together evidence on the current state of the natural environment in the South West. It shows that a healthy natural environment makes a real difference to people’s lives and outlines the work Natural England and our partners need to do to conserve our regional wildlife and landscapes for the future.

Landscape

37% of the South West region is designated as either National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The South West, along with the North East, has the greatest proportion of its coastline designated as Heritage Coast.
Braunton Burrows in North Devon is one of only three biosphere reserves in England and is important for its landscape and biodiversity.
The East Devon and Dorset World Heritage Site, or Jurassic Coast, is the only World Heritage Site in England that has been designated by UNESCO primarily for its natural rather than cultural features. Its coastal geology spans 185m years. See 'World Heritage Sites' in Section 2.4: (752kb).
The region’s landscape is varied. It has 41 Joint Character Areas (JCA) compared in with 159 JCAs throughout England.
Eight JCAs were described as neglected by the 1999-2003 Countryside Quality Counts report – mainly due to agricultural practices, loss of boundary features and poor river quality.

Biodiversity

There are 964 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the South West covering 200,348 ha of land. Nearly 83% are in favourable condition compared with 80% nationally.
The South West has the largest area of semi-natural habitats of any English region. Less than half of this habitat is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The South West holds almost half of England’s semi-natural grassland resource (44%). 90% of grassland SSSIs are in favourable condition.
The South West region holds the largest proportion of lowland wetland habitats.
Breeding snipe have declined by 90% since 1982 in the South West. A disproportionate number of wetland birds breed on a small number of well-managed sites. In England as a whole 71% of Snipe are found on SSSIs or in Environmentally Sensitive Areas, emphasising the importance of good management of this habitat type.
The South West’s marine environment is of international importance with the highest diversity of fish species of any region. The Lundy No Take Zone shows how marine protection can have a positive impact on the breeding population of species such as lobster.

Enjoying the natural environment

National Nature Reserves in the region received 2.6m visitors in 2005/06. Studland and Godlington Heath NNR was the third most visited NNR in England with 1m visitors.
Seven of our 50 National Nature Reserves are “spotlight” NNR, chosen because they represent the best visitor experience to these special places.
4.5% of the South West is open access land, almost half of which is registered common land.
The South West has the highest levels of legal coastal access in England ((70%)
Exmoor and Dartmoor National Parks received 5.4m visitor days in 2005/06.
There are 1,227km of National Trail in the region.

Meeting the challenge in the South West

The unprecedented scale and rate of change in the South West means that co-ordinated action is needed now.

We will work with communities, through the Finding Sanctuary project, to identify a network of Marine Protected Areas.
We will ensure that the £85m for green farming schemes in the South West does more to help people and nature adapt to climate change by locking-in carbon, soaking up excess rainwater to prevent flooding and connecting existing wildlife sites. We will target environmental stewardship to resources at priority areas and habitats so that the region’s biodiversity can be maintained and increased, delivering our PSA targets of stopping decline of biodiversity by 2010; increasing numbers of farmland birds; and maintaining and improving the condition of SSSIs.
We will work with partner to ensure that housing, infrastructure and transport proposals are planned and developed within environmental limits, and fully integrate the conservation and enhancement of the natural environment. We will engage with local planning authorities to plan for, and develop, Green Infrastructure networks.
We call on, SWRDA and local authorities to put the needs of the natural environment on an equal footing with economic growth when they are drawing up plans as a result of the Sub-national review, and to work together on a shared agenda for ‘Quality of Life’.