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| Natural Areas |
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| Definitions |
| In 1996 English Nature and the
Countryside Commission, with help from English Heritage, produced a map of
England that depicts the natural and cultural dimensions of the landscape.
Digital boundary data is available for Natural Areas and Character Areas. |
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| Natural Areas |
| Natural Areas are biogeographic
zones that reflect the geological foundation, the natural systems and processes
and the wildlife in different parts of England. There are 120 Natural Areas,
many of which are coincident with Character Areas; the remainder comprise one
or more Character Area. Natural Areas are a sensible scale at which to view the
wildlife resource, from both a national and local perspective, and they were
used by English Nature as an ecologically coherent framework for setting
objectives for nature conservation. Natural Areas are not a designation. |
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| Character Areas |
| There are 159 Character Areas, each
of which is distinctive with a unique 'sense of place'. These broad divisions
of landscape form the basic units of cohesive countryside character, on which
strategies for both ecological and landscape issues can be based. The Character
Area framework is used extensively by the Countryside Agency to describe and
shape objectives for the countryside, its planning and management. |
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| Boundaries |
| These areas are not derived from
administrative boundaries, but follow variations in the character of the
landscape. As they are based upon the distribution of wildlife and natural
features, the land use pattern and human history of each area, the boundaries
are difficult to define precisely because of the gradation from one area to
another. Consequently, the boundaries should be regarded as the approximate
limits of the areas involved, for example the transition between some Natural
Areas can be several kilometres wide. |
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