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Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

The summary Figure shows the proportion of indicator components for which ‘Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment’ is the primary goal that have been assigned to each assessment category, with the exact number of indicator components shown as a label on the bars.
Two indicators are classed as ‘not assessed’ because they are still in development (G1 Changes in landscape and waterscape character and H5 Exposure to transport noise). Indicator G2, Condition of heritage features including designated geological sites and scheduled monuments currently has insufficient data points to be assessed. A further 14 indicator components are presented as interim in this year’s report, but currently only have one or two years of data so do not have a sufficient time series for an assessment.
Three indicator components were assessed: D3 Area of woodland in England, G4a Frequency of visits to the natural environment and G5a Volunteer time spent on the natural environment in England. The observed increases in the area of woodland in England over the short and medium term are assessed as ‘little or no change’ but long-term increases are assessed as an improvement. Increases in the frequency of visits to the natural environment over the short term were also assessed as an improvement but there were insufficient data points to assess changes to this indicator over longer time periods. Volunteer time spent on the natural environment in England has improved across all 3 assessment periods.

Summary of assessment results - Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

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Assessment results - Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

Indicator component assessed Short term Medium term Long term
D3 Area of woodland in England Little or no change Little or no change Improvement
G1 Changes in landscape and waterscape character Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G2a Condition of geological and geomorphological heritage features of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England (favourable or unfavourable recovering) Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G2b Condition of Scheduled Monuments in England (optimal or generally satisfactory) Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G3a Percentage of the total population in England living in close proximity of greenspace Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G3bi Adult’s mean overall levels of expectation and perception of the quality of green and natural spaces in England Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G4a Frequency of adult visits to the natural environment in the past 12 months in England Improvement Not assessed Not assessed
G4b Frequency of adult visits to green and natural spaces in the past 12 months in England Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G4c Frequency of time spent outside in the last week by children in England, in school Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G4c Frequency of time spent outside in the last week by children in England, outside of school Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G5a Volunteer time spent on the natural environment in England Improvement Improvement Improvement
G5b Adults' social action index, England Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G5c Children's social action index, England Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G6a Percentage of adults in England reporting that protecting the environment is important to them Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G6b Adults' pro-environmental behaviour index, England Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G6c Percentage of children in England reporting that looking after the environment is important to them Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G6d Children's pro-environmental behaviour index, England Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G7a Percentage of adults in England reporting that time spent outdoors was good for their mental health Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G7a Percentage of adults in England reporting that time spent outdoors was good for their physical health Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
G7b Percentage of children in England agreeing that being in nature makes them very happy Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
H5 Exposure to transport noise Not assessed Not assessed Not assessed
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Potential links - Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

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Potential links - Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment

Primary goal From Indicator To Indicator Correlation Rationale
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G2 Condition of heritage features including designated geological sites and scheduled monuments D2 Extent and condition of protected sites – land, water and sea Positive Geological sites are a subset of protected areas.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G3 Enhancement of green/blue infrastructure D1 Quantity, quality and connectivity of habitats Positive Accessible natural greenspaces have an important contribution to make to the quality of the environment in urban areas. Such sites provide important refuges for wildlife in otherwise impoverished areas.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G3 Enhancement of green/blue infrastructure G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Positive Green and blue spaces and features in and around our built environment, including within Green Belts, are essential to health and well-being.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G4 Engagement in the natural environment G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Positive G7 shows that most people agree that spending time outdoors is important for their physical and mental health.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G5 People engaged in social action for the environment D2 Extent and condition of protected sites – land, water and sea Positive G5 includes data on volunteer hours from organisations that manage protected areas such as the Wildlife Trusts.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G6 Environmental attitudes and behaviours E8 Sustainable use of water Positive G6 will include information on people’s self-reported environmental behaviours, likely including questions on water use.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G6 Environmental attitudes and behaviours J3 Municipal waste recycling rates Positive G6 will include information on people’s self-reported environmental behaviours, likely including questions on waste.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment G6 Environmental attitudes and behaviours J1 Carbon footprint and consumer buying choices Positive G6 will include information on people’s self-reported environmental behaviours, likely including questions on behaviours related to carbon use.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment A3 Concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Negative Long-term exposure to particulate matter contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and lung cancer.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment A4 Rural background concentrations of ozone (O3) G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Negative Ozone is a gas which is damaging to human health and can trigger inflammation of the respiratory tract, eyes, nose and throat as well as asthma attacks.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment A5 Roadside nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Negative Short-term exposure to concentrations of NO2 can cause inflammation of the airways and increase susceptibility to respiratory infections and to allergens. NO2 can exacerbate the symptoms of those already suffering from lung or heart conditions.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment A6 Exceedance of damaging levels of nutrient nitrogen deposition on ecosystems G1 Changes in landscape and waterscape character Negative Nutrient nitrogen deposition affects the nutrient levels and diversity of species in sensitive environments, for example, by encouraging algae growth in lakes and water courses.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment B2 Serious pollution incidents to water G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Negative The 2 higher categories of serious pollution event cause, for example, potential harm to bathers.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment B4 Condition of bathing waters G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Positive Status of bathing waters is based on a set of microbiological tests (measuring E.coli and intestinal enterococci) performed on waters used for bathing. The bacteria, if present, can cause severe stomach upsets and gastro-intestinal illness.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment D2 Extent and condition of protected sites – land, water and sea G1 Changes in landscape and waterscape character Positive Changes in environmental outcomes from our Designated Landscapes will be considered as part of the G1 indicator.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment D3 Area of woodland in England G1 Changes in landscape and waterscape character Positive G1 will consider attributes of landscape such as woodland cover.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment D3 Area of woodland in England G3 Enhancement of green/blue infrastructure Positive Woodland will be included in metrics of green infrastructure.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment D3 Area of woodland in England G4 Engagement in the natural environment Positive Some visits to the natural environment will be visits to woodland.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment H3 Emissions of mercury and persistent organic pollutants to the environment G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Negative POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the tissues of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment. Mercury is toxic and can cause damage to human health and accumulates in the environment and the food chain.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment H5 Exposure to transport noise G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Negative Health costs (and hence burden to the economy) of noise can be estimated from health outcomes associated with noise exposure (such as annoyance, sleep disturbance, and cardiovascular effects).
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment J5 Prevent harmful chemicals from being recycled G7 Health and wellbeing benefits Positive Chemicals measured in J5 include POPs which can bioaccumulate and have harmful impacts on health.
Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment J6 Waste crime G1 Changes in landscape and waterscape character Negative Fly tipping will influence changes in the public’s perceptions of landscape character and quality, which will become part of the G1 indicator.
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