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Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs), which seek to enhance the environment on a landscape scale, are making ‘real progress’ in delivering their objectives according to Professor Sir John Lawton, as the first NIA evaluation report is published yesterday.

Professor Sir John Lawton said: “One of the things that struck me forcefully when I have been visiting NIAs is the huge amount of enthusiasm, collaboration and vision in every consortium.... I’m amazed by how much has been achieved already, as this report makes abundantly clear. I always knew that making more space for nature in the NIAs would take time ... But looking at what has been achieved in this first year, I think we will all be pleasantly surprised by where we are by 2015.”

The progress report, ‘Monitoring and Evaluation of Nature Improvement Areas Year 1 (2012-13)’, assesses information submitted by all NIAs and its key findings are:

Management and Organisation

• All NIAs have established clear management structures and partnerships, are delivering projects against planned objectives and report good or satisfactory progress against targets

Successful project delivery

• Over 6.5ha of new woodland has been created within the Birmingham and Black Country NIA
• Major access routes for visitors have been restored in Dark Peak NIA with the help of volunteers, enabling additional works to begin on nearby routes
• Many NIAs have been engaged in activities which have led to habitat and species gains, plus improvement to ecological connectivity e.g.
  • 21.5ha woodland, 51.8ha grassland and two geological sites have been enhanced within the Birmingham and Black Country NIA
  • Marlborough Downs NIA has provided food and nest sites for farmland birds, five new ‘sparrow villages’ 70 sparrow nest boxes, five kestrel boxes and a new barn owl box
  • 1,500ha of land is to be incorporated into Higher Level Stewardship to strengthen the ecological network in the Nene Valley NIA.

Partnership working

A wide variety of partners are involved in NIAs, with representation from the private sector, academia, Non-Governmental Organisations and the government arms-length bodies (Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and Natural England) e.g.

• Meres and Mosses NIA is undertaking research with local universities and agricultural colleges

• Wild Purbeck NIA is working with the Frome Piddle catchment management plan on woodland planting and wetland restoration to achieve joint outcomes.

Financial and human resource

NIAs have mobilised significant financial and human resources. 

• Each £1 invested by the government has resulted in £5.50 additional support, expected to rise to £6.80 when planned support is taken into account e.g.
  • Just under £2.1 million has been secured from the Catchment Restoration Fund for water quality improvements and £92,000 from the SITA Trust for blanket bog restoration within Dark Peak NIA
  • £0.5 million has been secured from the Coastal Communities Fund for a sustainable tourism project at Morecambe Bay.

Engagement with local communities

NIAs are engaging with local schools, community groups and volunteers, offering educational and training opportunities e.g.

• Humberhead Levels NIA’s CONNECT Project has resulted in more than 2,500 additional visitors to Gateway sites and over 5,000 hours of volunteer time
• Schools visited RSPB Old Moor in the Dearne Valley NIA, opening up a range of working with school initiatives.

Working together and sharing learning

There is increasing evidence that NIAs are working together to share best practice e.g.

• Events to share expertise about grassland management have been hosted by North Devon NIA, with planning hosted by Dearne Valley NIA
• NIAs are working with local universities and research organisations to develop an understanding of innovative approaches to natural environment project delivery and assessment e.g. ecosystem services. 

Delivery and implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework

• All 12 NIAs have adopted the required minimum of 13 indicators, with some NIAs deciding to use as many as 20, and have initiated monitoring programmes across all four themes: Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, Social and Economic Benefits and Contributions to Well-being, and Partnership Working. Activities have been undertaken across all four of the framework themes contributing to wider policy objectives such as Biodiversity 2020.

While demonstrating that all NIAs have been successful in delivering practical initiatives at the end of their first year of activity, future evaluation in years two and three will be developed to look at outputs and outcomes under each theme, measuring delivery against a robust baseline.

Notes for Editors

Nature Improvement Areas

Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) were first introduced by the Natural Environment White Paper (2011), with the aim of creating 12 initial areas to make enhancements and to reconnect nature on a significant scale, via local partnerships. Selected via a national competition, Natural England’s first twelve Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) started work on the 1 April 2012.  The twelve initial NIAs extend from Morecambe Bay in the North West to the Wild Purbeck in the South West.

These areas are using innovative landscape scale approaches and partnership-led delivery to create:

• better places for wildlife – creating more and better-connected habitats at a landscape scale, providing space for wildlife to thrive and adapt to climate change.
• better places for people – through enhancing a wide range of benefits that nature provides, such as recreation opportunities, flood protection, cleaner water and carbon storage.
• united local communities, engaging landowners and businesses through a shared vision for a better future for people and wildlife.

The twelve NIAs are now in their second year of activity across hundreds of thousands of hectares.  The locally-led projects have a share of the government’s £7.5 million, taking action that will benefit wildlife and people, and encourage more local people to engage with nature. This investment by Defra and Natural England, designed to operate over a three year period from 2012-15, has already attracted over £40 million of additional resources, from cash contributions, gifts in kind, and voluntary support.

The 12 Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) are:

Birmingham and Black Country
Dearne Valley
Humberhead Levels
Marlborough Downs
Meres and Mosses of the Marches
Morecambe Bay Limestone and Wetlands
Nene Valley
Northern Devon
South Downs Way Ahead
The Dark Peak
The Greater Thames Marshes
Wild Purbeck

For further information see our NIA webpages.

NIAs: monitoring and evaluation

As part of the NIA programme the 12 initial NIAs are required to undertake monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of their projects. NIAs submit quantitative and qualitative information using the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework developed for this purpose. The framework includes indicators and protocols under four themes (biodiversity, ecosystem services, social and economic benefits and contributions to well-being, and partnership working) and aims to enable NIAs to measure the progress of their delivery within and beyond the three year programme. Five of the 43 indicators are ‘core’ indicators that must be adopted by all the NIAs, while the others are optional. The 12 initial NIAs must also submit quarterly progress reports and annual financial reporting to Natural England.

In March 2013, Defra in collaboration with Natural England commissioned Collingwood Environmental Planning (CEP), with its partners GeoData Institute and Cascade Consulting, to undertake further technical development to support monitoring, providing support for NIA partnerships, enabling co-ordination and knowledge exchange with other related initiatives and undertaking an evaluation of the NIAs after 1, 2 and 3 years. The ‘Monitoring and Evaluation of Nature Improvement Areas Year 1 (2012-13) Progress Report’ presents the results of the evaluation of the NIAs at the end of their first year of activity. 

For further information and access to the progress report see our monitoring and evaluation page.

Natural England is the government’s independent adviser on the natural environment. Established in 2006 our work is focused on enhancing England’s wildlife and landscapes and maximising the benefits they bring to the public.

• We establish and care for England’s main wildlife and geological sites, ensuring that over 4,000 National Nature Reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest are looked after and improved.

• We work to ensure that England’s landscapes are effectively protected, designating England’s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and advising widely on their conservation.

• We run Environmental Stewardship and other green farming schemes that deliver over £400 million a year to farmers and landowners, enabling them to enhance the natural environment across two thirds of England’s farmland.

• We fund, manage, and provide scientific expertise for hundreds of conservation projects each year, improving the prospects for thousands of England’s species and habitats.

• We promote access to the wider countryside, helping establish National Trails and coastal trails and ensuring that the public can enjoy and benefit from them.

For further information (media only) contact: Ellen Softley, 0300 060 0213 ellen.softley@naturalengland.org.uk. Out of hours: 07970 098005.