Natural England is the
non-departmental public bodyIn the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
of the UK government responsible for ensuring that
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
's natural environment, including its land,
floraFlora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and
faunaFauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the
natural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
.
Natural England focuses its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes:
- a healthy natural environment
- enjoyment of the natural environment
- sustainable use of the natural environment
- a secure environmental future
Roles and responsibilities
As an
non-departmental public bodyIn the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
(NDPB), Natural England is independent of government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters,
[Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006] a constraint that was not placed on its predecessor NDPBs.
Its powers include awarding grants, designating
Areas of Outstanding Natural BeautyAn Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
and
Sites of Special Scientific InterestA Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, managing certain National Nature Reserves, overseeing access to open country and other recreation rights, and enforcing the associated regulations. It is also responsible for the administration of numerous grant schemes and frameworks that finance the development and conservation of the natural environment, for example
Environmental StewardshipEnvironmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England. It was formally launched on 18 March 2005, although the first agreements did not start until 1 August 2005....
, Countryside Stewardship,
Environmentally Sensitive AreaAn Environmentally Sensitive Area is a type of designation for an agricultural area which needs special protection because of its landscape, wildlife or historical value. The scheme was introduced in 1987...
s, and Access to Nature.
It is responsible for the delivery of some of Defra's Public Service Agreements (e.g. reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020 and improving public access to the countryside).
Natural England takes its Finance, Human Resources and Estates services from the Defra Shared Services organisation. Information technology services are outsourced to IBM.
History
Natural England was established on 1 October 2006 by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, which implemented the recommendations of a rural review by
Christopher Haskins, Baron Haskins of SkidbyChristopher Robin Haskins, Baron Haskins , is a British/Irish businessman, and former member of the British Labour Party....
. It was formed by the amalgamation of three founder bodies:
- Countryside Agency
The Countryside Agency in England was a statutory body set up in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The Agency was formed by merging the Countryside Commission and the Rural Development Commission...
, the landscape, access and recreation elements
- English Nature
English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...
- Rural Development Service
The Rural Development Service was formerly part of the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . It ceased to exist on 1 October 2006 following the creation of Natural England.- History :...
, the environmental land management functions of Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsThe Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
(Defra)
It received the powers of the founder bodies, including awarding grants, designating
Areas of Outstanding Natural BeautyAn Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
and
Sites of Special Scientific InterestA Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, managing certain National Nature Reserves, overseeing access to open country and other recreation rights, and enforcing the associated regulations. It is also responsible for the administration of numerous grant schemes and frameworks that finance the development and conservation of the natural environment, for example
Environmental StewardshipEnvironmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England. It was formally launched on 18 March 2005, although the first agreements did not start until 1 August 2005....
, Countryside Stewardship,
Environmentally Sensitive AreaAn Environmentally Sensitive Area is a type of designation for an agricultural area which needs special protection because of its landscape, wildlife or historical value. The scheme was introduced in 1987...
s, and Access to Nature.
Natural England joined the
10:10Drono Acharya composed the film's songs and Ritam Sen, Sandip Chakrabarty, Padmanabha Dasgupta, Rana Basu Thakur and Rangeet wrote the lyrics.-External links:* IMDB Title* * *...
project in 2009 in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. One year later they announced that they had reduced their carbon emissions (according to
10:10's criteria) by
13%.
State of the natural environment
In May 2008, Natural England published a report,
"State of the Natural Environment", which brought together statistics and facts about England's environment. The report was intended to be used by environmental organisations as a benchmark and source for policy development. It complements reports produced by other organisations:
- Environmental facts and figures Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
- Heritage counts English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
- State of the UK's birds RSPB
- State of Britain's butterflies Butterfly Conservation
Butterfly Conservation is an insect conservation organisation in the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest insect conservation organisations in the world.-History of the Organisation:...
Green exercise
Natural England is funding eight demonstration
green exerciseGreen exercise refers to physical exercise undertaken in relatively natural environments. Physical exercise is well known to provide health benefits. There is also good evidence that viewing and being in natural environments has calming and positive mood effects...
projects through local regional partnerships. The main aim is to increase levels of physical activity and people's connections to their local green spaces.
Green infrastructure
Natural England is promoting the concept of
Green InfrastructureGreen Infrastructure is a concept originating in the United States in the mid-1990s that highlights the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning. In particular there is an emphasis on the "life support" functions provided by a network of natural ecosystems, with an...
as a way to deliver a wide range of benefits for people and the natural environment together. It believes that Green Infrastructure should be delivered via the spatial planning system, as an integral part of new development everywhere. They say it should also form a key part of proposals to regenerate existing urban areas.
Natural England is working with partners in the Growth Areas, Growth Points and proposed Eco-towns to prepare and implement Green Infrastructure strategies and demonstrate good practice on the ground.
Controversy
Natural England was challenged in High Court in 2006 by Peter Boggis, a pensioner who protected his house from erosion. Natural England claimed that as the site of Boggis's house was a
Site of Special Scientific InterestA Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI), the protection went against the scientific community's interests. Natural England lost the case in 2009, when Mr. Justice Blair, the brother of the former Prime Minister, ruled that Mr. Boggis' "human predicament" was more important than the site's SSSI status. Natural England won the subsequent appeal in October 2009.
External links