Natural areas of England

The Natural Areas of England are regions, officially designated by Natural England, each with a characteristic association of wildlife and natural features.^[1] More formally, they are defined as "biogeographic zones which reflect the geological foundation, the natural systems and processes and the wildlife in different parts of England...".^[2]

There are 120 Natural Areas in England ranging from the North Pennines to the Dorset Heaths and from The Lizard to The Fens. They were first defined in 1996 by English Nature and the Countryside Commission, with help from English Heritage. They produced a map of England that depicts the natural and cultural dimensions of the landscape.^[3]

Natural Areas are assessed by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment, to be "a sensible scale at which to view the wildlife resource, from both a national and local perspective". Natural Areas were also used by English Nature as an "ecologically coherent framework for setting objectives for nature conservation."^[3]

Many Natural Areas coincide with a further natural division referred to as National Character Areas; however, in other cases a Natural Area may contain two or more National Character Areas.^[3]

Natural Areas by region

North East

1. North Northumberland Coastal Plain
2. Border Uplands
4. North Pennines
5.

6. Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau
7. Tees Lowlands
98. Northumberland Coast
99. Tyne to Tees Coast

North West

3.

9. Eden Valley
10. Cumbria Fells and Dales
11. West Cumbria Coastal Plain
12. Forest of Bowland
13. Lancashire Plain and Valleys
14.
26. Urban Mersey Basin
117. Liverpool Bay
118. Morecambe Bay
119. Cumbrian Coast
120. Solway Firth

Yorkshire

8. Yorkshire Dales
14.

15. Pennine Dales Fringe
16. Vale of York and Mowbray
17. North York Moors and Hills
18. Vale of Pickering
19. Yorkshire Wolds
20. Holderness
21.
22. Humberhead Levels
23. Southern Magnesian Limestone
24.
34. North Lincolnshire Coversands and Clay Vales
35. Lincolnshire Wolds
36.
100. Saltburn to Bridlington
101. Bridlington to Skegness

West Midlands

25. Dark Peak
27. Meres and Mosses
28.

29. South West Peak
30. White Peak
31. Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent
40. Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands
41. Oswestry Uplands
42. Shropshire Hills
43. Midlands Plateau
44. Midland Clay Pastures
56.
57.
58. Clun and North West Herefordshire Hills
59. Central Herefordshire
60.
51. Dean Plateau and Wye Valley
116. Severn Estuary

East Midlands

32. Sherwood
33. Trent Valley and Rises
34. North Lincolnshire Coversands and Clay Vales
35. Lincolnshire Wolds
36.

37. The Fens
38. Lincolnshire and Rutland Limestone
39. Charnwood
44. Midland Clay Pastures
45. Rockingham Forest
52. West Anglian Plain
53. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge
54. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge
102. The Wash

East of England

37. The Fens
46. Breckland
47. North Norfolk
48. The Broads
49.

50. East Anglian Plain
51. East Anglian Chalk
52. West Anglian Plain
53. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge
54. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge
65.
66. London Basin
67.
102. The Wash
103. Old Hunstanton to Sheringham
104. Sheringham to Lowestoft
105.

South East

63.

64. Midvale Ridge
65.
66. London Basin
67.
68. North Kent Plain
69. North Downs
70.
71. Romney Marshes
72.
73.
74. South Downs
75. South Coast Plain and Hampshire Lowlands
76. Isle of Wight
77. New Forest
78. Hampshire Downs
79.
106. North Kent Coast
107. East Kent Coast
108. Folkestone to Selsey Bill
109.

South West

55. Cotswolds
62. Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges
63.

79.
80. South Wessex Downs
81. Dorset Heaths
82. Isles of Portland and Purbeck
83. Wessex Vales
84. Mendip Hills
85.
86. Mid Somerset Hills
87.
88. Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes
89. Blackdowns
90. Devon Redlands
91. South Devon
92. Dartmoor
93. The Culm
94. Bodmin Moor
95. Cornish Killas and Granites
96.
97. The Lizard
110. South Dorset Coast
111. Lyme Bay
112. Start Point to Land's End
113. Isles of Scilly
114. Land's End to Minehead
115. Bridgwater Bay
116. Severn Estuary

References