Last update:

24th July 2008

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What makes the SW special - landscape designations

SSSIs condition in the SW

AONBs and National Parks in the SW

Heritage Coast in the SW

Countryside Character Areas in the SW

Hedgerows

Impact of climate change on the natural environment in the SW

Trees, woodland and forestry

Biodiversity

Farming and agriculture

Built environment

Historic environment

Brownfield land

Built environment

Contaminated land

Flooding

Land use

Radon

Soil

Population & development

Useful websites:

South West Protected Landscapes Forum

South West Biodiversity Action Plan

South West Nature Map

UK Biodiversity Action Plan

Countryside Quality Counts

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW)

English Heritage

UNESCO

Countryside Agency

Hedgerow Importance Test

Cornish Hedges

Landscape

What's new on this page...

• Taylor Review of Rural Economy & Affordable Housing - SW highlights
• State of the Countryside 2008 published
• SSSI condition in 2008
• Hedges fund wealth of wildlife and landscapes
• Strategy for England's trees, woods and forests
• New tranquillity maps reveal our most peaceful sites in England continue to shrink

The South West's landscape is one of the region's greatest assets, contributing to residents' overall quality of life and health, biodiversity, economy, heritage and identity.

The South West is the most rural and most agricultural region in England, with 1.77 million hectares (80% of the region's land area) under agriculture in 2002 (2003 Agricultural Census, Defra). More information about agriculture can be found in the farming and agriculture chapter.

Natural landscapes and wildlife in the region are attractive to visitors and therefore make an important contribution to the tourism and leisure industry.

The built environment and historic environment in the South West are covered separately.

What makes the South West special - landscape designations

37% of the region's land area merits special protection through landscape designation because its scenery, wildlife or habitat warranted national or international recognition, the locations and state of which can be seen in the map and table below:

Map showing major designations in the South West

The map below shows the wealth of nationally and internationally important protected landscapes in the South West, including National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Heritage Coast and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

click to enlarge

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are nationally important nature conservation sites. They support England’s very best wildlife and geology and include many of our most spectacular natural assets.

Public Service Agreements (PSA) were first introduced to modernise and improve the Government’s performance on the issues that matter most to the public – including education, health, crime and the environment. Ambitious and publicly accountable targets, including bringing into favourable condition 95% of all nationally important wildlife sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) by 2010. More information is available from English Nature.

In 2003, for the first time, English Nature reported on the condition of all SSSIs in England. This followed a six year period during which English Nature conservation staff visited every SSSI and assessed their condition using standard national criteria. The resulting report, England’s Best Wildlife and Geological Sites (English Nature, 2003), provided a comprehensive analysis of SSSI condition throughout England and identifiedthe key reasons why some SSSI habitats are not as good as they should be.

In February 2006 a new report on SSSI condition was published by English Nature. Target 2010 - the condition of England’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest in 2005 (English Nature, 2006) reviews the current situation in England and details the progress made towards the 2010 target since September 2003. It summarises the major factors affecting SSSI condition and the key actions that need to be carried out over the next five years if the target is to be achieved.

SSSIs in the South West

According to English Nature almost a quarter of England's Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are in the South West (978 out of 4117)

Source: English Nature, 2005

There are 968 SSSIs in the South West covering almost 169,000 hectares. Accounting for 16% of all SSSI land in England, this significant proportion of the national total is partly explained by the fact that the South West is the largest region and that there are extensive areas of upland, coast and estuaries.

SSSI condition in the South West

Of the nine English regions, the South West contains the 3rd largest area of SSSI land behind the North West and Yorkshire & the Humber and, with 77.5%, has the 4th largest percentage meeting the 2010 target.

SSSIs in PSA target condition have increased from almost 68% in 2003 to over 81% in February 2008, some way ahead of the national average of 80%. Within the South West, Cornwall had the highest proportion in target condition (89.29%), closely followed by the Former Avon area (89.15%).  Although still relatively high, Somerset had the lowest proportion (69.92%).

% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest meeting  PSA target 2nd February 2008

% area meeting PSA target in the South West's counties in February 2008

click to enlarge

(source: Natural England, 2008)

See also National Nature Reserves, RAMSAR sites, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and historic environment.

Information on hedgerows and other field boundaries can now be found here

State of the Countryside 2008

The State of the Countryside 2008 has now been published (July 2008) by the Commission for Rural Communities, providing a comprehensive description of social, economic and environmental conditions and changes across rural England, highlighting the main challenges and future trends for government and other organisations. 

provides a comprehensive description of social, economic and environmental conditions and changes across rural England, highlighting the main challenges and future trends for government and other organisations. 

Key findings for 2008 include:

• Internal migration has slowed in the last two years, and overseas migration has slowed in the last year, following a sharp increase from 2004
• While rural areas have, on average, better health outcomes (which is related to the higher average incomes of rural areas), there is also a higher incidence of disease (which is related to the older population profile)
• While rural disadvantage is generally found to a lesser extent than in urban areas, the actual volume is not picked up in most area-based analysis, because it is not concentrated in specific geographic areas but dispersed across rural settlements. Our latest analysis seems to show increasing inequality within rural areas
• Poverty appears to be increasing in rural areas, and more than in urban areas. Over the last two years for which data are available the percentage of population under the poverty line rose 3% in rural areas compared to 1% in urban areas
• Most measures of economic performance show rural England to have a vibrant and active economy, but output per employee is not as high as in urban areas, and wages for jobs in rural areas tend to be lower
• Work is not proving to be a route out of poverty for many rural employees and residents due to low pay in rural areas
• Knowledge-based industry continues to grow, while land-based industry continues to decline
• A sharp increase in the value of agricultural land and rising agricultural commodity prices has taken place over the last year

What has / hasn’t changed in 10 years?

Issues and trends that have remained important since 1999:

• An ageing rural population
• A desire to live in the countryside and the consequent migration of people to rural areas, coupled with a trend of young people leaving rural areas for work and for study
• Concern about the quality of the countryside
• The relative similarity in the make-up of urban and rural employment, with agriculture employing a relatively small number of people
• A growing rural economy with many small businesses and self-employed people, but with lower wages than in urban England
• Housing affordability issues, fed by increasing demand for housing, and the presence of second homes
• Fewer service outlets for many service types in rural areas
• Poor accessibility to services for those without access to cars
• Less funding per head for many rural authorities
• Faster traffic growth in rural areas

Key findings in the South West include:

• The areas with the highest net in-migration per head of population are found in the South West, coastal areas, areas about 60 km from London and areas somewhat closer to other major cities
• The population of rural England continues to rise at a faster rate than in the country as a whole. Most of this increase is due to internal migration by people moving out of cities rather than different birth and death rates. Longer distance moves tend to be towards the South West and to areas such as Norfolk and Lincolnshire, from London and major cities
• Take-up of broadband varies geographically. Broadband use is now broadly similar in rural and urban areas (on average). But Broadband use is higher in the more wealthy areas of central southern England with high levels of commuting, and lower in more remote areas, especially in the East Midlands, the South West, the North, and the Welsh Marches. It relates fairly closely to relative incomes in different areas
• Lower quartile house prices and lower quartile affordability vary greatly across the country. The more affluent areas of central Southern England and Yorkshire support higher house prices which means that the lower quartile housing prices are also high. But many less affluent areas with lower wages such as the South West and Norfolk also have relatively high prices which means that lower quartile housing affordability is worst in all of these areas. These tend to be areas with higher percentages of second homes
• Housing affordability remains a major issue in rural areas, especially for lower quartile prices and incomes. It is worst in sparse rural areas, and in the South West, Norfolk and parts of Yorkshire
• Some of the reason behind healthier lives relates to healthy lifestyles, which in turn also correlates closely with higher incomes. Rates of smoking are lower in rural areas, and eating fruit and vegetables is generally more prevalent. But while urban areas stand out as having less healthy lifestyles on these measures, there are several rural areas where this is also the case. In particular, the former coalfield areas in South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the Fenland areas, and parts of the South West. This is particularly true of eating fruit and vegetables. On this indicator many urban areas, especially most of London, show good levels of healthy living. The maps seem to point to income having a stronger impact on healthy lifestyles than any intrinsic advantage of living in rural areas
• Sparse and remote areas often fare worse on indicators, and when mapped, there are areas that show up consistently as offering a poorer quality of life. Besides the sparse areas, there are areas such as Herefordshire, parts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk and South West, as well as the former mining and industrial declining areas such as Durham, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire that consistently show worse levels. Rather perversely, many of these areas are those favoured for retirement and second homes, which can exacerbate some of the problems such as poor housing affordability that occur there
• Organic farming continues to increase its share of food production and sales, although it remains a niche sector, accounting for just over 3% of the total agricultural area across the country as a whole. However, there is significant variation between the regions. In general, organic production is least common in areas where arable farming dominates (such as the East of England where it covers 1% of the agricultural area) and is more common in grassland areas (such as the South West where it covers nearly 7%)
• Since March 2005, everyone owning a horse in England has been required to register with Defra and obtain a ‘passport’ for each animal. The South East and South West have the highest numbers of registered horses, while numbers are very much lower in the North East. The South West has the greatest number per head of population, followed by the East of England and the South East, while outside London, the North West has the lowest levels of ownership
• On-shore wind turbine sites tend to be clustered in the uplands (such as in Cumbria and Northumberland), in coastal areas facing the prevailing South West winds (such as Cornwall) and in flat countryside (the Cambridgeshire Fens).

Download the full report here.