1. Extent and condition of protected areas

Question 1

Note

Accepted Answer

In December 2022, Natural England and Defra identified a methodological issue with part 1a (extent of protected areas), which resulted in some historic overestimation. Both Natural England and Defra have worked closely together to resolve this issue, which took longer than expected due to the complexities of the data sources. This issue has now been resolved and the data feeding into this part of the indicator has been corrected. Discussion of the impact this has had on the indicator can be found below.

In October 2023 Natural England identified a minor methodological issue with part 1b, which relates to the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest. This issue has now been resolved, the impact on the final indicator has been minimal, however it has not been possible to correct data relating to the years prior to 2016, and so a shorter time series is published here.

Question 2

Introduction

Accepted Answer

The first part of this indicator (1a) shows the extent of protected areas in England. Designation and management of these areas is a key mechanism for conserving wildlife and geological features on land and at sea. Protected areas cover the most valuable of sites for biodiversity and geodiversity in England and provide a legal mechanism for ensuring their protection.

The second part of this indicator (1b) shows the proportion of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) features, by area, meeting set condition criteria. Features are the species or habitats for which the sites have been designated. SSSI features have been assessed since 2003, data included here from 2016 and the latest data available are to March 2023.

Type of indicator

Extent of protected areas (1a) – Response indicator
Condition of protected areas (1b) – State indicator

Question 3

Assessment of change in extent and condition of protected areas

Accepted Answer

Extent on land:

Long term (1999 to 2023): Improving
Short term (2018 to 2023): Little or no change
Latest year (2023): No change

Extent at sea:

Long term (1999 to 2023): Improving
Short term (2018 to 2023): Improving
Latest year (2023): No change

For SSSIs in favourable or unfavourable recovering condition:

Long term (2016 to 2023): Not assessed
Short term (2018 to 2023): Deteriorating
Latest year (2023): Decreased

Note about the assessment:

Long-term and short-term assessment of the individual measures are based on a 3% rule of thumb. The base year for these assessments uses a 3-year average. See Assessing Indicators.

Question 4

1a.  Extent of protected areas

Accepted Answer

Trend description for Figure 1.1

The total extent of land and sea protected in England through national and international protected areas increased from 1.3 million to 3.5 million hectares between 2005 and 2023; an increase of 170% (Figure 1.1).

This total consists of 1 million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater areas, representing about 8% of the land area of England. Also contained in the total is 2.4 million hectares of marine sites (within the 12 nautical mile limit), representing 49% of inshore waters around England.

The area of terrestrial and freshwater sites has remained relatively stable since 2005, whereas the area of marine sites has increased substantially, over the most recent 5 years to 2023 it has increased by 45%. Further detail on this increase can be found in the background section.

Figure 1.1: Extent of protected areas in England on land and at sea, 2005 to 2023

Source: Natural England

Download the data for Figure 1.1 in ods format

Notes about Figure 1.1

the extent of protected sites is the cumulative area assessed in March of each year shown
for sites that span English borders, only the area within England is included.
the area of sites in the ‘on land’ measure (terrestrial, freshwater and coastal) includes all sites within the specified designations to mean low water (MLW).
the area of sites in the ‘at sea’ measure includes all sites within the specified designation between mean low water and the 12 nautical mile limit; sites beyond 12 nautical miles, in UK waters, are excluded. These are covered by the UK Biodiversity Indicators C1 indicator.
the extent figures include sites protected under designation as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA), Ramsar sites, Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) and National Nature Reserves (NNR). Any one protected area can have more than one designation, but each site contributes only once to the indicator total.

The method for calculating the footprint of protected sites in England has been updated since this indicator was last published. The previous method did not correctly account for overlaps in protected areas, which resulted in some over estimation of the total protected area. This method has now been corrected and new estimates calculated back to 2005. As part of this process boundary data (for instance country boundaries, and the mean low water boundary) have also been updated, and this has also had an impact on the final figures.

The impact of updating boundary data for the calculation of these statistics is minimal. The largest impact was in the estimates of area of Ramsar and SSSI sites at sea, which are now roughly 5% lower than they would have been if calculated using old boundary data.

The impact of removing areas of overlap from the estimates of protected areas has had a larger impact on the overall indicator. For instance, in 2014 the total area of protected sites at sea was estimated to be 1.1 million hectares. After removing areas of overlap this has been revised down to 784,000 hectares, a reduction of about 29%.

Question 5

1b.  Condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

Accepted Answer

Trend description for Figure 1.2

Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services has a higher-level outcome to achieve “… at least 50% of SSSIs in favourable condition, while maintaining at least 95% in favourable or recovering condition”.

There has been no change in the area of SSSIs in favourable condition since 2016, and in 2023 37% of SSSI area was in favourable condition.

The area in unfavourable recovering condition has decreased from 57% in 2016, to 49% in 2023.

Figure 1.2: Cumulative proportion of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in favourable or unfavourable recovering condition in England, 2016 to 2023.

Source: Natural England

Download the data for Figure 1.2 in ods format

Notes about Figure 1.2

site condition is the cumulative area assessed in March of each year shown. As new assessments are completed they replace the previous ones, so the graph is a snapshot of the condition of the site network at a given point in time
the dashed line shows the ‘Biodiversity 2020’ target

In 2023 the condition of SSSIs data have been recalculated for years 2016 - 2023 to account for some minor inconsistencies which previously occurred in the indicator. The impact of this on the indicator has been minimal, and the estimate of the proportion of SSSI sites in favourable or unfavourable recovering condition has changed by less than 1 percentage point. It has not been possible to correct data relating to the years prior to 2016, and so a shorter time series is published here.

Question 6

Further information

Accepted Answer

Relevance

The indicator shows progress with commitments to improve the status of our wildlife and habitats. It is relevant to outcomes 1, 1A, 1C and 2A in Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services (see Annex A). It is also relevant to a number of international targets (see Annex B of the aforementioned publication for further details).

The UK and England Biodiversity Indicators are currently being assessed alongside the Environment Improvement Plan Targets, and the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Targets, when this work has been completed the references to Biodiversity 2020 and the Aichi Global Biodiversity Framework Targets will be updated.

Background to Extent of protected areas (1a)

The total extent of protected areas in Figure 1.1 is the combined area of:

Nationally designated sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) National Nature Reserves (NNR), and Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ)), and
Internationally designated Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC, including candidate Special Areas of Conservation and Sites of Community Importance), and sites designated under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar).

There is considerable geographic overlap in these designations, with many sites being designated as 2 or more of SSSI, NNR, MCZ, SAC, SPA and Ramsar, although such sites contribute only once to the calculated areas presented here. The indicator is based on a spatial analysis of protected area polygons which removes overlaps between designation types. Coastal sites are split at mean low water and contribute to both the terrestrial and marine lines in Figure 1.1.

SSSIs can be designated to protect biological (species and/or habitats) and/or geological (landforms and/or geology) features. Sites may be designated as just biological, just geological, or as mixed biological/geological sites.

The SSSI designation underpins almost all of the international sites to the MLW mark, but the European sites go beyond this with the inclusion of marine areas. Figure 1.1 shows the cumulative effect of adding European sites to the protected areas network over time, as they were submitted in a number of tranches to the European Commission over several years. In the last few years, the majority of terrestrial sites required to be designated under the Birds and Habitats Directives have now been submitted to the European Commission, however marine sites are still being designated. There are currently 256 SACs covering over 2 million hectares and 88 SPAs covering just under 1.9 million hectares. Figure 1.3 shows the change in the extent of different designation types on land (above the MLW mark) and Figure 1.4 shows the equivalent changes at sea (below the MLW mark to 12 nautical miles) since 2005.

The area of terrestrial and freshwater sites has remained relatively stable since 2005, whereas the area of marine sites has increased substantially, over the most recent 5 years it has increased by 45% to 2023. A large contributor to this has been the designation of inshore marine sites under the European Birds and Habitats Directives. The first jump was an increase of almost 800,000 hectares in marine SACs and SPAs designated from 2011 to 2012. This was followed by an additional 140,000 hectares of marine SACs and SPAs in 2014. More recently, over 600,000 hectares of marine SPAs were designated from 2017 to 2018 and almost 800,000 hectares of marine SACs were designated in the year to 31 March 2020.

Marine Conservation Zones have also contributed substantially to the increase in area of inshore marine sites around England. These zones are designated by government under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to conserve the diversity of nationally rare, threatened and representative habitats and species. There were 91 MCZs (inshore and offshore) in waters around England at 31 March 2023; the first 27 zones were designated in November 2013 resulting in the increase of 109,000 hectares visible in the 2014 data. The second phase designated a further 23 sites in January 2016, resulting in the increase of 240,000 hectares seen in the 2016 data. The third and largest phase so far designated a further 41 sites in May 2019, resulting in the increase of over 726,000 hectares seen in the 2020 data. The third phase essentially completed the UK Blue Belt and the UK’s contribution to the ecologically coherent network in the North-East Atlantic in terms of the representation of species and habitats.

Figure 1.3: Extent of protected sites on land (terrestrial and freshwater) in England, by designation, 2000 to 2023.

Source: Natural England

Download the data for Figure 1.3 in ods format

Notes about Figure 1.3

The extent of protected sites is the cumulative area assessed in March of each year shown.
Terrestrial sites include land (terrestrial, freshwater and coastal areas) to mean low water.

Figure 1.4: Extent of protected sites at sea in England, by designation, 2000 to 2023.

Source: Natural England

Download the data for Figure 1.4 in ods format

Notes about Figure 1.4

The extent of protected sites is the cumulative area assessed in March of each year shown.
the area of sites in the ‘at sea’ measure includes all sites within the specified designation between mean low water and the 12 nautical mile limit; sites beyond 12 nautical miles, in UK waters, are excluded. These are covered by the UK Biodiversity Indicators C1 indicator.

Background to Condition of protected areas (1b)

Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services includes a high-level outcome to achieve:

90% of priority habitats in favourable or recovering condition and at least 50% of SSSIs in favourable condition, while maintaining at least 95% in favourable or recovering condition by 2020.

This indicator focuses on the condition of SSSIs.

Nationally important SSSIs are designated with the aim of conserving specific biological or geological features. The condition of these features is assessed on a rolling programme against agreed standards. ‘Favourable’ condition status indicates that the SSSI meets the agreed standards for the features of interest. ‘Unfavourable recovering’ condition status indicates that the SSSI fails to meet the standards but has appropriate management in place that will achieve those standards (sites with inappropriate or no suitable management are ‘unfavourable’).

The UK-wide Common Standards Monitoring programme is undertaken by the statutory conservation agencies to assess the effectiveness of management of the features for which protected areas have been designated. Favourable Condition Target(s) have been set for each site. The monitoring tests whether these targets have been met. Figure 1.5 below shows the detailed condition of SSSIs at the 31 March 2023. In total, 86% of sites were in favourable or unfavourable recovering condition, 6.5% were ‘unfavourable no change’ and 6.9% were in an unfavourable declining condition.

Figure 1.5: Condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in England, March 2023.

Source: Natural England

Download the data for Figure 1.5 in ods format

1. Extent and condition of protected areas

Applies to England

Note