D1: Quantity, quality and connectivity of habitats
Short Description
This indicator will measure the extent, condition and connectivity, of terrestrial and freshwater habitats in England. In the 25 Year Environment Plan, government committed to establishing a Nature Recovery Network: an increasingly connected network of places that are richer in wildlife and more resilient to climate change. The network will build on the recommendations from ‘Making space for nature’, led by Professor Sir John Lawton, and will provide wider environmental benefits, including carbon capture and opportunities for recreation.
Data are available to measure some aspects of this indicator such as extent and condition of some habitats, but further work is required to assess habitats beyond protected sites, and reliable methods for measuring ecological connectivity need to be further tested. Some indicators of aspects of ecosystem functions and processes are available to assess condition, but these are not comprehensive. New methods of Earth Observation together with development of measures of favourable conservation status and long-term site-based monitoring offer good opportunities to develop this indicator.
Readiness and links to data
An interim indicator for quantity is presented here that shows the percentage of land cover in England by broad habitat types. Interim figures for habitat quantity are available for reporting using the Living England Habitat Map. Work is underway to develop metrics to track the connectivity and quality of these habitats, with the aim to be included in a future publication.
The Living England project, led by Natural England, is a multi-year programme delivering a map of broad habitat types across England. The project uses satellite imagery, geo-environmental data and habitat data from extensive field surveys to train and validate a machine learning model. The model is taught to make connections between the known habitat type (established by the field surveys) and satellite imagery and geo-environmental for the same location. The model then uses this knowledge to predict habitat types elsewhere, where field survey data is not available.
Natural England published the latest version of the Living England habitat map in September 2024. This latest version uses an updated and improved methodology compared to the Phase IV map which was published previously. Ongoing work to progress this indicator includes statistical analysis of attributes to assess habitat quality and testing of different approaches to measure habitat connectivity.
During 2021 and 2022 a final list of habitat quality attributes was produced, together with identification of data sets which can be used to measure them. Work during 2023 focussed on determining benchmarks for defining poor, moderate and good status for each attribute in each habitat type. Work is also in development to bring in measurable elements of natural function for each habitat type, as well as determine how this indicator will utilise the England Ecosystem Survey when these data are available.
The development of the habitat connectivity element of the indicator is also ongoing. During 2021 and 2022, 3 potential connectivity metrics were trialled using the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Land Cover map 2015. Two of these metrics were deemed to perform against several desirable properties best.
Work is underway to develop a metric to track action to create and restore wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites, to monitor progress towards the statutory target to restore or create at least 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites by 2042. The aim is to include this metric in a future publication of the indicators.
Notes on indicator
The Living England habitat map displays the modelled likely broad habitat classifications, trained on up-to-date field surveys and Earth observation data as well as ancillary data layers. The figures presented here are derived from Phase VI of the Living England project.
Indicator components
Figure D1: Percentage land cover in England by broad habitat types, 2023
Table D1: Percentage land cover in England by broad habitat types, 2023
| Primary habitat | Percentage cover |
|---|---|
| Arable and horticultural | 38.25 |
| Bare ground | 0.58 |
| Bare sand | 0.18 |
| Bog | 2.13 |
| Bracken | 1.06 |
| Broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland | 8.67 |
| Built-up areas and gardens | 11.29 |
| Coastal saltmarsh | 0.30 |
| Coastal sand dunes | 0.13 |
| Coniferous woodland | 2.03 |
| Dwarf shrub heath | 2.56 |
| Fen, marsh and swamp | 1.65 |
| Improved and semi-improved grassland | 14.56 |
| Scrub | 2.15 |
| Solar farms | 0.10 |
| Unimproved grassland | 13.52 |
| Water | 0.84 |
Trend description for D1
Artificial habitat types comprising ‘arable and horticultural land’ and ‘built-up areas and gardens’ and 'solar farms' account for approximately half of land cover in England (38%, 11% and 0.1% respectively). Semi-natural habitat types account for the remaining 50%, with ‘improved and semi-improved grassland’ and ‘unimproved grassland’ making up 15% and 14% respectively of total land cover in England, and ‘broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland’ making up a further 9%.
Assessment of change
No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as a suitable time series is not yet available in the Outcome Indicator Framework.