On Wednesday, the government published its final report on its Nature Improvement Area project, which was launched in 2012.

Defra’s final report said the NIAs "created, restored or preserved" nearly 20,000 hectares of natural habitat at 12 sites across England over the past three years, using £7.5 million of government funding.

The aim of the NIAs was to protect wildlife and connect people with nature, while providing a boost to rural economies. Local government and conservation groups worked with the private sector on the 12 sites at:
 

• Birmingham and the Black Country
• Dark Peak, Derbyshire
• Dearne Valley Green Heart, South Yorkshire
• Greater Thames Marshes, Greater London
• Humberhead Levels, South Yorkshire
• Marlborough Downs, Hampshire
• Meres and Mosses, Shropshire
• Morecambe Bay Limestones and Wetlands, Lancashire
• Nene Valley, Norfolk
• Northern Devon
• South Downs Way Ahead, Sussex
• Wild Purbeck, Dorset

The report shows that Defra’s project helped protect or enhance biodiversity at the sites, contributing towards the government’s Biodiversity 2020 targets, but the project monitors noted that some improvements may have been realised without the initiative, e.g. through environmental stewardship grants.

The vast majority of habitat that makes up the government’s headline 20,000ha figure has been “preserved” by the project. In fact, figures show that only 4,625ha was restored or created under the schemes. even so, Defra said the NIAs have produced bigger and less fragmented places for wildlife.

Defra acknowledged that “The true value and impact of the 12 NIAs will only be realised in the longer-term, as achieving ecological restoration will require many years of effort,” and monitors admitted that, “It is too soon… to know the extent to which NIA partnerships will be able to continue to deliver all their objectives beyond the three grant funded years.”


So far, only eight of the schemes (66%) have secured funding to keep going after the NIA grants expired in 2015. Four of these schemes are being funded through the government’s Countryside Stewardship scheme, and four have secured funding form elsewhere.

Commenting on Wednesday, Environment Minister Rory Stewart said, “By combining government investment with community action these 12 Nature Improvement Areas have delivered real results for local environments and have built a justifiable sense of pride - bringing an astonishing 47,000 days of volunteer time to the natural world.

“We owe a huge thanks to the many many people who made these projects possible. We must now look to make sure these remarkable results are long lasting and help to connect the British public with nature. The work of the Nature Improvement Areas will be central to how we think about the environment over the next twenty-five years.”

Natural England Chairman Andrew Sells added, “I warmly congratulate all 12 Nature Improvement Areas on the enormous contribution they have made to conservation in such a short space of time. It is clear that this approach to coordinated landscape scale activity in England has delivered multiple benefits.”

Environment Minister Rory Stewart said the NIA report will help to inform Defra’s 25 year plan for action on the environment which will be published later in the year.