This section includes landscape monitoring initiatives that are focussed on specific landscape areas, or at a local level. Often these projects are in a unique position to use the ‘national picture’ on trends as context whilst being able to monitor changes on the ground at a localised scale – providing additional insights as to whether national and local perspectives complement each other and informing local landscape plans and strategies. They can also provide opportunities to engage local communities in landscape (and the landscape monitoring process), with potential to develop citizen science approaches to gathering landscape change data.
To support Protected Landscapes (PLs) in meeting their huge potential for nature, climate, people and place, the Government has established ambitious targets for National Parks and National Landscapes. These targets promote the actions that are most needed to achieve positive changes. They set the ambition for how Protected Landscapes are expected to achieve three outcomes from the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023:
• Goal 1: Thriving plants and wildlife
• Goal 7: Mitigating and adapting to climate change
• Goal 10: Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment
To support the monitoring of progress against the targets, Natural England will annually collate data (against indicators) to share with the protected landscapes. In addition, a suite of further statistics related to the statutory purposes of protected landscapes will be provided (according to availability). This information will assist in State of the Park / National Landscape reporting as part of the statutory management planning process.
The Framework is included here because it contains a strong element of landscape monitoring within its suite of indicators. There are also links to the wider context provided by the Defra 25 Year Environment Plan indicator G1: changes to landscape and waterscape character.