D2: Extent and condition of protected sites – land, water and sea
Short Description
Protected sites are areas of land, inland water and the sea that have special legal protection to conserve important habitats and species in England. These include our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), National Nature Reserves (NNRs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites. These area designations have been included as they focus on the protection of biodiversity and provide legal mechanisms for this protection. This indicator currently has 2 components: (a) extent of protected sites on land, freshwater and at sea and (b) condition of terrestrial SSSIs on land and water. Condition for terrestrial sites is assessed against relevant common standards agreed by the UK conservation agencies. Condition methodology for marine sites is currently under development.
Readiness and links to data
This indicator is not available for publishing in 2024 in a finalised form. An interim indicator is presented here that shows the extent of protected areas (D2a) and condition of SSSIs in England (D2b). Data for this interim indicator are published annually as England Biodiversity Indicator 1 – Extent and condition of protected areas. Work is underway to review reporting for terrestrial and freshwater sites. Further work is required to implement a methodology for assessing the condition of marine sites.
Notes on indicator
In December 2022, Natural England and Defra identified a methodological issue with part D2a (extent of protected areas), which resulted in some historic overestimation. Both Natural England and Defra have worked closely together to resolve this issue. 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.
In October 2023 Natural England identified a minor methodological issue with part D2b, 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 with favourable or unfavourable recovering condition changing by less than 1 percentage point, 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.
Indicator components
Figure D2a: Extent of protected sites in England, 2005 to 2023
Table D2a: Extent of protected sites in England, 2005 to 2023
| Year | Extent at sea | Extent on land |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 298,919.47 | 988,754.45 |
| 2006 | 298,966.78 | 990,324.23 |
| 2007 | 299,036.80 | 993,031.21 |
| 2008 | 328,511.63 | 994,135.51 |
| 2009 | 328,511.24 | 994,400.40 |
| 2010 | 328,505.40 | 994,207.75 |
| 2011 | 328,505.26 | 998,035.30 |
| 2012 | 328,505.38 | 998,405.85 |
| 2013 | 328,504.73 | 998,825.48 |
| 2014 | 783,967.05 | 1,000,894.33 |
| 2015 | 1,103,353.95 | 1,002,529.98 |
| 2016 | 1,343,627.78 | 1,004,719.51 |
| 2017 | 1,343,627.78 | 1,012,970.14 |
| 2018 | 1,685,216.97 | 1,015,777.56 |
| 2019 | 1,690,235.65 | 1,017,242.43 |
| 2020 | 2,343,422.44 | 1,018,303.60 |
| 2021 | 2,447,633.04 | 1,023,023.10 |
| 2022 | 2,447,633.04 | 1,024,397.18 |
| 2023 | 2,447,635.69 | 1,030,886.61 |
Trend description for D2a
The total extent of land, water and sea protected in England through national and international protected areas has increased from 1.29 million hectares in 2005 to 3.48 million hectares in 2023. The area of sites at sea has increased substantially, by more than 8 times since the time series began in 2005, although the majority of this increase took place between 2013 and 2020. The area of sites on land has remained relatively stable over time, increasing by 4% between 2005 and 2023.
Assessment of change
On land, there has been little or no change for the extent of protected sites in the most recent 5 years for which trends can be assessed (2018 to 2023), however an increase (or improvement) has been observed in both the medium and long-term time period. The extent of protected areas at sea has seen an improvement across the short, medium and long term.
Change since 2018 is covered by the short-term trend within the assessment. This shows that the Extent of protected sites at sea increased by 45% since 2018, while the extent of protected sites at land showed little or no change at 1.49% increase.
Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment background page. Summaries by 25 Year Environment Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.
Table D2a: Assessment of change
| Component | Subcomponent | Period | Date range | Percentage change | Smoothing function | Assessment of change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D2a | Extent at sea | Short term | 2018 to 2023 | 45.24 | Unsmoothed | Improvement |
| D2a | Extent at sea | Medium term | 2013 to 2023 | 645.08 | Unsmoothed | Improvement |
| D2a | Extent at sea | Long term | 2005 to 2023 | 718.83 | Unsmoothed | Improvement |
| D2a | Extent on land | Short term | 2018 to 2023 | 1.49 | Unsmoothed | Little or no change |
| D2a | Extent on land | Medium term | 2013 to 2023 | 3.21 | Unsmoothed | Improvement |
| D2a | Extent on land | Long term | 2005 to 2023 | 4.26 | Unsmoothed | Improvement |
Note that percentage change in Table D2a refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range. Assessment results presented here differ from those presented in the source publication (the England Biodiversity Indicators) because we use unsmoothed data and assess sites in favourable condition, whereas the England Biodiversity Indicators use a 3-year average for the baseline (effectively smoothing the data) and assess sites in favourable and unfavourable recovering condition.
Figure D2b: Condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England, 2016 to 2023
Table D2b: Condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England, 2016 to 2023
| Year | Favourable condition | Unfavourable recovering condition |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 38.50 | 57.30 |
| 2017 | 38.70 | 56.00 |
| 2018 | 38.70 | 55.50 |
| 2019 | 38.90 | 54.60 |
| 2020 | 38.70 | 54.10 |
| 2021 | 38.30 | 52.90 |
| 2022 | 38.20 | 50.80 |
| 2023 | 36.80 | 49.10 |
Trend description for D2b
There has been little change in the area of SSSIs in favourable condition since 2016 (38.5%), and in 2023 36.8% of SSSI area was in favourable condition. The area in unfavourable recovering condition has decreased from 57.3% in 2016, to around 49.1% in 2023.
Assessment of change
There has been a decrease (or deterioration) in the percentage of SSSIs in England achieving favourable condition over the short-term assessment periods. Due to the previous methodological issue mentioned in the Notes section, there are not currently sufficientt data points for a medium or long term assessment yet.
Change since 2018 is covered by the short-term trend within the assessment. This shows there has been decrease in the percentage of SSSIs in England achieving favourable condition since 2018.
Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment background page. Summaries by 25 Year Environment Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.
Table D2b: Assessment of change
| Component | Subcomponent | Period | Date range | Percentage change | Smoothing function | Assessment of change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D2b | Favourable condition | Short term | 2018 to 2023 | -4.91 | Unsmoothed | Deterioration |
| D2b | Favourable condition | Medium term | N/A | N/A | N/A | Not assessed |
| D2b | Favourable condition | Long term | N/A | N/A | N/A | Not assessed |
Assessment results presented here differ from those presented in the source publication (the England Biodiversity Indicators) because the Outcome Indicator Framework methodology uses unsmoothed data and assesses sites in favourable condition, whereas the England Biodiversity Indicators methodology uses a 3-year average for the baseline (effectively smoothing the data) and assesses sites in favourable and unfavourable recovering condition