Natural areas of England


The Natural Areas of England are regions, officially designated by Natural England, each with a characteristic association of wildlife and natural features. More formally, they are defined as "biogeographic zones which reflect the geological foundation, the natural systems and processes and the wildlife in different parts of England...".
There are 120 Natural Areas in England ranging from the North Pennines to the Dorset Heaths and from The Lizard to The Fens. They were first defined in 1996 by English Nature and the Countryside Commission, with help from English Heritage. They produced a map of England that depicts the natural and cultural dimensions of the landscape.
Natural Areas are assessed by Natural England, the UK Government's advisor on the natural environment, to be "a sensible scale at which to view the wildlife resource, from both a national and local perspective". Natural Areas were also used by English Nature as an "ecologically coherent framework for setting objectives for nature conservation."
Many Natural Areas coincide with a further natural division referred to as National Character Areas; however, in other cases a Natural Area may contain two or more National Character Areas.

Natural Areas by region

North East

1. North Northumberland Coastal Plain

2. Border Uplands

4. North Pennines

5. Northumbria Coal Measures

6. Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau

7. Tees Lowlands

98. Northumberland Coast

99. Tyne to Tees Coast

North West

3. Solway Basin

9. Eden Valley

10. Cumbria Fells and Dales

11. West Cumbria Coastal Plain

12. Forest of Bowland

13. Lancashire Plain and Valleys

14. Southern Pennines

26. Urban Mersey Basin

117. Liverpool Bay

118. Morecambe Bay

119. Cumbrian Coast

120. Solway Firth

Yorkshire

8. Yorkshire Dales

14. Southern Pennines

15. Pennine Dales Fringe

16. Vale of York and Mowbray

17. North York Moors and Hills

18. Vale of Pickering

19. Yorkshire Wolds

20. Holderness

21. Humber Estuary

22. Humberhead Levels

23. Southern Magnesian Limestone

24. Coal Measures

34. North Lincolnshire Coversands and Clay Vales

35. Lincolnshire Wolds

36. Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes

100. Saltburn to Bridlington

101. Bridlington to Skegness

West Midlands

25. Dark Peak

27. Meres and Mosses

28. Potteries and Churnet Valley

29. South West Peak

30. White Peak

31. Derbyshire Peak Fringe and Lower Derwent

40. Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands

41. Oswestry Uplands

42. Shropshire Hills

43. Midlands Plateau

44. Midland Clay Pastures

56. Severn and Avon Vales

57. Malvern Hills and Teme Valley

58. Clun and North West Herefordshire Hills

59. Central Herefordshire

60. Black Mountains and Golden Valley

51. Dean Plateau and Wye Valley

116. Severn Estuary

East Midlands

32. Sherwood

33. Trent Valley and Rises

34. North Lincolnshire Coversands and Clay Vales

35. Lincolnshire Wolds

36. Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes

37. The Fens

38. Lincolnshire and Rutland Limestone

39. Charnwood

44. Midland Clay Pastures

45. Rockingham Forest

52. West Anglian Plain

53. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge

54. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge

102. The Wash

East of England

37. The Fens

46. Breckland

47. North Norfolk

48. The Broads

49. Suffolk Coast and Heaths

50. East Anglian Plain

51. East Anglian Chalk

52. West Anglian Plain

53. Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge

54. Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge

65. Chilterns

66. London Basin

67. Greater Thames Estuary

102. The Wash

103. Old Hunstanton to Sheringham

104. Sheringham to Lowestoft

105. Suffolk Coast

South East

63. Thames and Avon Vales

64. Midvale Ridge

65. Chilterns

66. London Basin

67. Greater Thames Estuary

68. North Kent Plain

69. North Downs

70. Wealden Greensand

71. Romney Marshes

72. High Weald

73. Low Weald and Pevensey

74. South Downs

75. South Coast Plain and Hampshire Lowlands

76. Isle of Wight

77. New Forest

78. Hampshire Downs

79. Berkshire and Marlborough Downs

106. North Kent Coast

107. East Kent Coast

108. Folkestone to Selsey Bill

109. Solent and Poole Bay

South West

55. Cotswolds

62. Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges

63. Thames and Avon Vales

79. Berkshire and Marlborough Downs

80. South Wessex Downs

81. Dorset Heaths

82. Isles of Portland and Purbeck

83. Wessex Vales

84. Mendip Hills

85. Somerset Levels and Moors

86. Mid Somerset Hills

87. Exmoor and the Quantocks

88. Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes

89. Blackdowns

90. Devon Redlands

91. South Devon

92. Dartmoor

93. The Culm

94. Bodmin Moor

95. Cornish Killas and Granites

96. West Penwith

97. The Lizard

110. South Dorset Coast

111. Lyme Bay

112. Start Point to Land's End

113. Isles of Scilly

114. Land's End to Minehead

115. Bridgwater Bay

116. Severn Estuary