Natural England is excited to be launching a new interactive website for England’s National Character Areas (NCAs). This development makes environmental evidence far more accessible to a wide range of stakeholders, partners and local communities.
What are NCAs?
There are 159 National Character Areas covering all of England. They are broad areas of land with a cohesive and distinctive landscape and ecological character, shaped by natural, cultural and historical influences. NCA boundaries follow natural lines in the landscape, not administrative boundaries, which makes them a good decision-making framework for the natural environment.
History
The NCAs began to take shape in 1993 when the Countryside Commission launched the original ‘New Map of England’ pilot project. This aimed to identify, describe, and analyse landscape character at a broad regional scale. The map identified 159 distinct ‘Countryside Character Areas’ (still reflected in today’s NCAs) and was accompanied by written ‘profile’ descriptions published in regional volumes.
The Countryside Character Areas became ‘National Character Areas’ in 2008 and a major project was undertaken between 2010 and 2014 to update the information. Online PDFs were all published by 2014, and it is these documents that have been refreshed and incorporated into the new interactive website.
What are the NCA profiles used for?
The integrated evidence presented in the NCA profiles can be used to inform many aspects of land use planning and land management. They can shape strategies that seek to strengthen character and sense of place, as well as improve a landscape’s resilience to climate change and other pressures. The information and evidence in the profiles can:
- help people to make decisions about the places that they live in and care for
- guide actions to achieve nature recovery, including through Local Nature Recovery Strategies
- support the planning of large-scale conservation projects and the design of land management schemes
- inform choices about landscape change
- encourage partnership working towards a common vision.
What is the new website and how does it improve the user experience?
Stakeholders have said how valuable they found the NCA profiles. The new website builds on the previous static PDF documents. It makes the information much more accessible and interactive – a key recommendation from an independent 2017 review of their effectiveness. New features include interactive mapping on a range of topic themes, updated statistics and signposting to other sources of information. The design of the website also allows for an easier process of updating the information, including as new evidence becomes available.
Much of the information in the original NCA profiles is still relevant and has been transferred over. Content includes:
- a description of the landscape, including its key characteristics
- information describing and showing how the area has changed over time
- facts, data and interactive maps
- an overview of the NCA’s Natural Capital (the benefits of the area to society)
- statements of environmental opportunity – setting out how the landscape could be managed for the future.
The new NCA Profiles website is available to access via: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-character-area-profiles-information-for-local-decision-making
The previous PDF publications from 2012-2014 will still be available on NE’s Access to Evidence site as a past record of information for interested users.
Sally Marshall, Principal Landscape Advisor, Natural England, Associate Member of the Landscape Institute, has written a blog regarding NCA Launch from her perspective. Read blog here.
