Research and analysis

Environmental Indicator Framework Theme D (Wildlife)

Published 1 December 2025

Applies to England

D1: Quantity, quality and connectivity of habitats

Short Description

This indicator will measure the extent, condition and connectivity, of terrestrial and freshwater habitats in England. In the 25 Year Environment Plan, government committed to establishing a Nature Recovery Network: an increasingly connected network of places that are richer in wildlife and more resilient to climate change. The network will build on the recommendations from ‘Making space for nature’, led by Professor Sir John Lawton, and will provide wider environmental benefits, including carbon capture and opportunities for recreation.

Data are available to measure some aspects of this indicator such as extent and condition of some habitats, but further work is required to assess habitats beyond protected sites, and reliable methods for measuring ecological connectivity need to be further tested. Some indicators of aspects of ecosystem functions and processes are available to assess condition, but these are not comprehensive. New methods of Earth Observation together with development of measures of favourable conservation status and long-term site-based monitoring offer good opportunities to develop this indicator.

Readiness and Links to Data

An interim indicator for quantity is presented here that shows the percentage of land cover in England by broad habitat types. Interim figures for habitat quantity are available for reporting using the Living England Habitat Map. Work is underway to develop metrics to track the connectivity and quality of these habitats, with the aim to be included in a future publication.

The Living England project, led by Natural England, is a multi-year programme delivering a map of broad habitat types across England. The project uses satellite imagery, geo-environmental data and habitat data from extensive field surveys to train and validate a machine learning model. The model is taught to make connections between the known habitat type (established by the field surveys) and satellite imagery and geo-environmental for the same location. The model then uses this knowledge to predict habitat types elsewhere, where field survey data is not available.

Natural England published the latest version of the Living England habitat map in September 2024. This latest version uses an updated and improved methodology compared to the Phase IV map which was published previously. Ongoing work to progress this indicator includes statistical analysis of attributes to assess habitat quality and testing of different approaches to measure habitat connectivity.

During 2021 and 2022 a final list of habitat quality attributes was produced, together with identification of data sets which can be used to measure them. Work during 2023 focussed on determining benchmarks for defining poor, moderate and good status for each attribute in each habitat type. Work is also in development to bring in measurable elements of natural function for each habitat type, as well as determine how this indicator will utilise the England Ecosystem Survey when these data are available.

The development of the habitat connectivity element of the indicator is also ongoing. During 2021 and 2022, 3 potential connectivity metrics were trialled using the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Land Cover map 2015. Two of these metrics were deemed to perform against several desirable properties best.

Work is underway to develop a metric to track action to create and restore wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites, to monitor progress towards the statutory target to restore or create at least 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected sites by 2042. The aim is to include this metric in a future publication of the indicators.

Notes on Indicator

The Living England habitat map displays the modelled likely broad habitat classifications, trained on up-to-date field surveys and Earth observation data as well as ancillary data layers. The figures presented here are derived from Phase VI of the Living England project.

D1: Percentage land cover in England by broad habitat types, 2023

Source: Natural England

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Trend Description

Artificial habitat types comprising ‘arable and horticultural land’ and ‘built-up areas and gardens’ and 'solar farms' account for approximately half of land cover in England (38%, 11% and 0.1% respectively). Semi-natural habitat types account for the remaining 50%, with ‘improved and semi-improved grassland’ and ‘unimproved grassland’ making up 15% and 14% respectively of total land cover in England, and ‘broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland’ making up a further 9%.

Assessment: D1

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as a suitable time series is not yet available in the Environmental Indicator Framework.

Metadata

Headline	Nature on land and water
Primary Goal	Restored nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature, Climate change
Relevant Targets	Creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside the protected site network, focusing on priority habitats as part of a wider set of land management changes providing extensive benefits, Implementing a sustainable and effective second National Adaptation Programme
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended), May provide evidence in support of Climate Change Risk Assessment and the Adaptation Sub Committee’s assessment of the National Adaptation Programme, under the Climate Change Act (2008)
Geographical Scope	England
Development Status	Interim
First Reported	2023
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2023

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D2: Extent and condition of protected sites – land, water and sea

Short Description

Protected sites are areas of land, inland water and the sea that have special legal protection to conserve important habitats and species in England. These include our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs), National Nature Reserves (NNRs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites. These area designations have been included as they focus on the protection of biodiversity and provide legal mechanisms for this protection. This indicator currently has 2 components: (a) extent of protected sites on land, freshwater and at sea and (b) condition of terrestrial SSSIs on land and water. Condition for terrestrial sites is assessed against relevant common standards agreed by the UK conservation agencies. Condition methodology for marine sites is currently under development.

Readiness and Links to Data

An interim indicator is presented here that shows the extent of protected areas (D2a) and condition of SSSIs in England (D2b). Data for this interim indicator are published annually as England Biodiversity Indicator – Extent and condition of protected areas. Work is underway to review reporting for terrestrial and freshwater sites. Further work is required to implement a methodology for assessing the condition of marine sites.

The latest release of England Biodiversity Indicator - Extent and condition of protected areas includes the breakdown for condition of SSSIs by area, and for the first time in 2024, the condition by feature. This new approach will allow Natural England to record variation in a feature’s condition across SSSIs, and better inform management through unit-specific comments to aid with conservation. As of 31 March 2024, 25% of all SSSI features were up-to-date with a condition assessment. Feature condition data is cumulative and not every feature is assessed every year.

D2a: Extent of protected sites in England, 2005 to 2024

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

The extent of protected sites is the cumulative area assessed in March of each year shown. It is based on the following designations: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA), National Nature Reserves (NNR), Ramsar sites and Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ). For sites that span English borders, only the area within England is included. Extent of Protected Sites located between mean low water and the 12 nautical mile limit are included in the ‘marine’ measure; extent of protected sites located beyond 12 nautical miles, in UK waters, are excluded.

Trend Description

The total extent of land, water and sea protected in England through national and international protected areas has increased from 1.29 million hectares in 2005 to 3.48 million hectares in 2024. The area of sites at sea has increased substantially, by more than 8 times since the time series began in 2005, although the majority of this increase took place between 2013 and 2020. The area of sites on land has remained relatively stable over time, increasing by 4% between 2005 and 2024.

Assessment: D2a

On land, there has been little or no change for the extent of protected sites in the most recent 5 years for which trends can be assessed (2019 to 2024), however an increase (or improvement) has been observed in both the medium and long-term time period. The extent of protected areas at sea has seen an improvement across the short, medium- and long-term.

Change since 2018 is covered by the short-term trend within the assessment. This shows that the extent of protected sites at sea increased by 45% since 2018, while the extent of protected sites at land showed little or no change at 1.49% increase.

Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment guide page. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D2a	Extent at sea	Short term	2019 to 2024	44.81	Unsmoothed	Improvement
D2a	Extent at sea	Medium term	2014 to 2024	212.21	Unsmoothed	Improvement
D2a	Extent at sea	Long term	2005 to 2024	718.83	Unsmoothed	Improvement
D2a	Extent on land	Short term	2019 to 2024	1.41	Unsmoothed	Little or no change
D2a	Extent on land	Medium term	2014 to 2024	3.07	Unsmoothed	Improvement
D2a	Extent on land	Long term	2005 to 2024	4.33	Unsmoothed	Improvement

Note that percentage change in Table D2a refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range. Assessment results presented here differ from those presented in the source publication (the England Biodiversity Indicators) because we use unsmoothed data and assess sites in favourable condition, whereas the England Biodiversity Indicators use a 3-year average for the baseline (effectively smoothing the data) and assess sites in favourable and unfavourable recovering condition.

D2b: Condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England, 2016 to 2024

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

Site condition is the cumulative area assessed by 31 March of each year shown. As new assessments are completed, they replace the previous ones, so Figure D2b is a snapshot of the condition of the site network at a given point in time.

Trend Description

There has been a slight decrease in the area of SSSIs in favourable condition since 2016 (38.5%), and in 2024 35.5% of SSSI area were in favourable condition. The area in unfavourable recovering condition has decreased from 57.3% in 2016, to around 48.8% in 2024.

Assessment: D2b

There has been a decrease (or deterioration) in the percentage of SSSIs in England achieving favourable condition over the short-term assessment periods. There are not currently sufficient data points for a medium- or long-term assessment.

Change since 2018 is has also been assessed. This shows there has been decrease in the percentage of SSSIs in England achieving favourable condition since 2018.

Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment guide page. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D2b	Favourable condition	Short term	2019 to 2024	-8.79	Unsmoothed	Deterioration
D2b	Favourable condition	Medium term	N/A	N/A	N/A	Not assessed
D2b	Favourable condition	Long term	N/A	N/A	N/A	Not assessed

Assessment results presented here differ from those presented in the source publication (the England Biodiversity Indicators) because the Environmental Indicator Framework methodology uses unsmoothed data and assesses sites in favourable condition, whereas the England Biodiversity Indicators methodology uses a 3-year average for the baseline (effectively smoothing the data) and assesses sites in favourable and unfavourable recovering condition

Metadata

Headline	Wildlife and wild places
Primary Goal	Restored nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature
Relevant Targets	Increasing the proportion of protected and well-managed seas, and better managing existing protected sites, Restoring 75% of our one million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites to favourable condition, securing their wildlife value for the long term
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended), The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (the Bern Convention), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR), Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009
Geographical Scope	England
Development Status	Interim
First Reported	2019
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2024

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D3: Area of woodland in England

Short Description

This indicator shows change in the area of broadleaved and conifer woodland in England. Woodland, as defined for the National Forest Inventory (NFI), is land under stands of trees with a minimum area of 0.5 hectares, a width of at least 20 metres, and a canopy cover of at least 20% or having the potential to achieve this. To be considered a tree, a plant must have at least one woody stem and be expected to achieve a height of at least 5 metres. The definition of woodland relates to land use, rather than land cover, so integral open space and areas of felled trees that are awaiting restocking (replanting) are included as woodland. Woodland is a key natural capital asset that provides many natural capital benefits, such as the provision of timber and other wood products, carbon storage, improvement of the water environment, habitats for wildlife, and opportunities for exercise and recreation.

Readiness and Links to Data

Data on the area of woodland are published annually in Forest Research’s Forestry Statistics along with information on the data sources and methodology. Additional commentary on recent trends and new planting of woodland and trees in England is provided in the Forestry Commission’s Key Performance Indicators.

D3: Area of woodland in England, 1998 to 2024

Source: Forest Research

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Notes on Figure

Annual datapoints reflect the area of conifer and broadleaf woodland in England at 31 March each year.

Due to rounding, areas of conifer and broadleaf woodland shown here may not sum exactly to the total area of woodland in England shown in this indicator and in the source publication (Forest Research’s Forestry Statistics).

Data for 2021 to 2023 were revised in the 2025 update of this indicator. The total area of woodland reported has marginally increased for the 2022 and 2023 data points, mainly driven by a marginal increase in areas of broadleaf woodland.

There is a general assumption that woodlands that have been clearfelled will be restocked. These areas are classified as ‘woodlands in transition’ until there is evidence (through satellite imagery or aerial photography) that the areas have been replanted, have regenerated, or lost to another land use. As natural regeneration can take some time to establish, some areas can remain as woodlands in transition for more than 10 years and there can be considerable time lags between the felling of woodland to create open habitats and the designation of that area as non-woodland. It is likely this leads to some overestimation of the area of conifer woodland.

The area of woodland statistics are based on annual updates to both the NFI woodland map based on remote sensing and also administrative data on new planting of woodland. The split between conifer and broadleaf in the woodland map data is based on more accurate assessments of stocked areas from fieldwork data.

Trend Description

The total area of woodland in England has increased from 1.24 million hectares in 1998 to 1.34 million hectares in 2024, equating to an increase from 9.5% to 10.3% of total land area of England (total land area of England derived from the ONS Standard Area Measurements for Administrative Areas). This growth has been driven by an increase in area of broadleaf woodland since the start of the time series, despite the area of conifer woodland having gradually decreased over the same period. The two apparent step changes in the area of conifer woodland (2011-12 and 2020-21) reflect updates to stocked area by species estimates from the National Forest Inventory field surveys, that are then used to estimate the conifer/broadleaf for the total woodland area, rather than losses of conifer woodland in those specific years.

Assessment: D3

The observed increases in the area of woodland in England over the short and medium term are assessed as ‘little or no change’. This is because it would take a large area of additional woodland cover to reach the 3% increase needed for the ‘improvement’ category to be assigned. There has, however, been an increase (improvement) over the long term. This assessment does not consider whether any improvement is on a sufficient scale for meeting targets.

Change since 2018 has also been assessed. There has been ‘little or no change’ in woodland cover since 2018.

Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment guide page. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D3	Total woodland	Short term	2019 to 2024	1.67	Unsmoothed	Little or no change
D3	Total woodland	Medium term	2014 to 2024	2.76	Unsmoothed	Little or no change
D3	Total woodland	Long term	1998 to 2024	7.80	Unsmoothed	Improvement

Note that percentage change in Table D3 refers to the difference seen from the first to last year in the specified date range.

Metadata

Headline	Not applicable
Primary Goal	Restored nature, Access to nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature, Access to nature, Resources
Relevant Targets	Creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside the protected site network, focusing on priority habitats as part of a wider set of land management changes providing extensive benefits, Increasing woodland in England in line with our aspiration of 12% cover by 2060: this would involve planting 180,000 hectares by end of 2042 [now superseded by the Environment Act target to increase tree canopy and woodland cover to at least 16.5% of land area in England by 2050].
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - land, Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	Equivalent data at UK level are reported to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation for its regular Forest Resources Assessment, and to Forest Europe for publication in the State of Europe’s Forests
Geographical Scope	England
Development Status	Final
First Reported	2019
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2024

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D4: Relative abundance and/or distribution of species

Short Description

This indicator will use regularly collected data to track changes in relative abundance and/or distribution of species which are characteristic of different broad habitats in England including birds, bats, butterflies, moths, other invertebrates, and plants. The indicator will ultimately have 2 components: (a) changes in the relative abundance of species listed on Schedule 2 of the The Environmental Targets (Biodiversity) (England) Regulations 2023 for which suitable abundance data are available; and (b) changes in the distribution of widespread species for which suitable distribution data are available. The relative abundance of a species will increase when the population of the species grows, and it will decrease when the population of the species declines. The distribution index, also referred to as the occupancy index, measures the number of 1 kilometre grid squares across the country in which species are recorded each year. It will increase when a species becomes more widespread and decrease when a species becomes less widespread.

Readiness and Links to Data

An interim indicator is presented here which shows composite trends in the relative abundance of species in England.

Further detail about the all-species abundance indicator is available in the annual Indicators of species abundance in England statistics release. This includes taxonomic breakdowns, a technical background section that describes the data sources and methods in greater detail, and a spreadsheet that contains a list of species within the index, together with a more granular breakdown of the data. The data are published as an official statistic in development to gather feedback and facilitate user involvement in the development of the indicator.

Further work is required to develop the distribution measure for this indicator.

Notes on Indicator

This indicator is an official statistic in development and has been published in order to facilitate user involvement in its development – information on how the data have been obtained and how the indicator has been prepared is available via the link(s) in the 'Readiness and links to data' section. We would welcome any feedback, particularly on the usefulness and value of this statistic, via environmentalindicators@defra.gov.uk.

The relative abundance measure was developed with the aim of producing an index to summarise trends in abundance for the broadest possible set of organisms that are representative of English terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity. The indicator does not represent marine species (with the exception of seabirds and a small number of fish which live in coastal waters) as marine species are highly mobile and widely dispersed, requiring assessments to be done at a much larger scale (e.g. the North East Atlantic). There are existing abundance indicators for marine species in the UK Marine Strategy and in the OSPAR assessments.

Two possible versions of the relative abundance measure are currently presented here, 'option 1' with a greater degree of smoothing applied (using a 10-year timescale) and 'option 2' with a lesser degree of smoothing (using a 3-year timescale). Smoothing is applied to the species abundance indicator to identify long-term trends in otherwise noisy data. A greater degree of smoothing may provide a clearer view of the underlying long-term trend, while a lesser degree of smoothing preserves the shorter-term patterns in the data. The results given in the commentary are based on the values of both trends and are intended to communicate the extent to which reliance of these trends are dependent on methodological decisions. Further details on this methodology are available in the Indicators of species abundance in England statistical release.

D4i: Relative abundance of species in England, 1970 to 2023

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

This composite ‘all-species’ measure of relative abundance is based on 1,176 species (444 moths, 235 freshwater invertebrates, 209 vascular plants, 168 birds, 55 butterflies, 37 fish, 17 mammals and 11 bumblebees).

The graph shows the smoothed trends for the relative abundance of these 1,176 species under 2 different smoothing scenarios; 'option 1' being smoothed on a 10-year timescale (effectively applying more smoothing) and 'option 2' being smoothed on a 3-year timescale (effectively applying less smoothing).

The shaded areas on the graph represent the 95% credible intervals (measures of uncertainty) for the 2 smoothed trends. The index values represent change from the baseline value in 1970; therefore, the credible intervals widen over time as confidence in the estimates of change relative to the baseline fall.

The credible intervals capture the variation in trends across species, but not uncertainty in the underlying species abundance indices. Furthermore, they do not capture uncertainty associated with the spatial locations of sample points, nor about the degree to which the species represent wider biodiversity.

Trend Description

By 2023, the index of change in the relative abundance of species in England had declined to around 67% of its baseline value in 1970, with the majority of these changes taking place in the last 3 decades of the 20th century. More recently, between 2018 and 2023, the relative abundance index showed no meaningful change over the latest 5 years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D4i

The composite ‘all-species’ relative abundance measure is also reported in Indicators of species abundance in England. This statistical release presents a short-, medium- and long-term assessment for the same time periods used in this Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. These assessment results were reused here as the method in the source publication is tailored to the specific composite abundance index and it factors-in information on confidence. The assessment found little or no change in the abundance of species in England over the short- and medium-term periods and a decline (deterioration) over the long-term.

Details on the assessment methodology used for this indicator can be found in the ‘assessment of change’ section of the Indicators of species abundance in England statistical release. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D4i	Smoothed index (options 1 and 2)	Short term	2018 to 2023	1.8 to 2.5	Smoothed data	Little or no change
D4i	Smoothed index (options 1 and 2)	Medium term	2013 to 2023	1.4 to 2.5	Smoothed data	Little or no change
D4i	Smoothed index (options 1 and 2)	Long term	1970 to 2023	-32.5 to -33.4	Smoothed data	Deterioration

Note that smoothed data presented in Figure D4i were used for percentage change calculations. The smoothing method is specific to this indicator and differs from the default Loess smoothing approach adopted for most indicators for the Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. Percentage change refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range.

D4ii: Long-term and short-term changes in the relative abundance of individual species in England, 1970 to 2023

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

Composite indices mask individual species trends, therefore, this bar chart shows the percentage of the 1,176 species within the indicator that have increased, decreased or displayed little or no overall change in their relative abundance over 2 time periods, (i) long term (since the time series began in 1970) and (ii) short term (latest 5 years of the time series).

Trend Description

The long-term decline in the overall abundance of species in England shown in D4i masks the trends of the individual species within the index, 39% of which have shown a strong or weak decrease and 33% of which have shown a strong or weak increase in abundance since 1970. Over the short-term period (2018 to 2023) 45% of species showed a strong or weak increase and 40% showed a strong or weak decrease in abundance over the latest 5 years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D4ii

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator component as it is based on the same underlying data that are already assessed in D4i.

Metadata

Headline	Nature on land and water
Primary Goal	Restored nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature
Relevant Targets	Taking action to recover threatened, iconic or economically important species of animals, plants and fungi, and where possible to prevent human induced extinction or loss of known threatened species in England and the Overseas Territories
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land)
Geographical Scope	England
Development Status	Interim
First Reported	2019
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2023

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D5: Conservation status of our native species

Short Description

This indicator will track changes in the national extinction risk faced by terrestrial and freshwater species. It will do this by using the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List categories and criteria (Version 3.1 Second edition, 2012). The Red-listing process, when applied to countries, classifies each species into one of several categories including Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Regionally Extinct (country scale), Extinct in the Wild (global scale) and Extinct (global scale). Species classified as Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered are defined as ‘threatened’ with extinction. The indicator summarises the IUCN Red List category of a large number of species through a ‘Red List Index’, the value of which decreases as species become more threatened and increases as species become less threatened.

Readiness and Links to Data

The presentation of extinction risk for this indicator is split into 2 parts. Component D5i presents the aggregate value of the 'Red List Index for England' and the individual index values for 36 taxonomic groups. Component D5ii presents a summary by extinction risk category of the same data. It shows the percentage of 8,259 native species (taxa) in the Red List Index for England that are classified as falling into each of the main extinction risk categories, together with the percentage considered to be threatened. Therefore, D5ii represents a snapshot of the status of species in the baseline index in 2022.

Further details on the development of the Red List Index for England, along with supporting data and a species list are available in the Natural England research report 124, while information on the methodology of a Red List Index is available on the IUCN website. Additional detail on extinction risk categories is also available on the Regional Red List Assessments page of the IUCN website.

Available data on changes in abundance and distribution of native species are presented in indicators ‘D4 Relative abundance and/or distribution of widespread species’, ‘D6 Relative abundance and/or distribution of priority species’ and ‘D7 Species supporting ecosystem functions’.

Notes on Indicator

The IUCN red-listing process is a globally accepted methodology for assessing species extinction risk at global and regional (including national) scales.

A Red List Index is based on the numbers of species in each Red List category. How these numbers change over time reflects how species improve or deteriorate in status. The index is expressed as a value between zero and one, where ‘one’ equates to all species assessed as Least Concern (hence none are expected to go extinct in the near future), and ‘zero’ indicates that all species have gone extinct within the geographical area being considered. In this way, the index is used to measure the overall extinction risk of many species, and when recalculated at intervals, this provides a trend.

The Red List Index for England encompasses the status of 8,259 species native to England for which a Great Britain Red List Category was available in 2022 (excluding species classed as Data Deficient, Not Applicable, Not Evaluated and globally Extinct). Under IUCN guidance, micro-organisms are unsuitable for Red List assessment, hence the index focusses on macro-organisms which are defined here as of sufficient size to be seen by the human eye unaided. The index covers 23 major taxonomic groups, comprising almost exclusively terrestrial and freshwater taxa: 49% invertebrates; 29% vascular plants, mosses and liverworts; 18% fungi and lichens; and 4% vertebrates. Assuming a total of approximately 40,000 native macro-organisms (species) in terrestrial and freshwater groups in England, about 20% are covered by the index.

Great Britain scale assessments can underestimate or overestimate extinction risk at an England scale. A comparison of Great Britain and England Red List categories across 4 taxonomic groups showed that between 80% to 92% of statuses aligned and therefore the Red List Index presented here is considered an approximation of extinction risk in England. Importantly, losses from England of species still present in Scotland or Wales will not be detected by the index. In future updates of this indicator, geographical biases to gains and/or losses will be reviewed, and losses from England as a whole highlighted.

The indicator presented here excludes changes in the number of species in each Red List category that are driven by improvements in knowledge (e.g. increase in data) or changing taxonomy, rather than a real change in population or distribution. It therefore measures genuine improvements or deteriorations in the status of species.

Change in the Red List Index for England is expected to be subtle, partly because it is numerically dominated by species of Least Concern, and the index measures net changes in the movement of species between Red List categories. Furthermore, the index can exhibit time-lags, due to the implementation of biodiversity policies, resultant improvements in species populations, available data evidencing these and the frequency of Red List assessment. Therefore, the index will be most effective as a long-term indicator. It is anticipated that the indicator will operate over at least a 20-year period (2022 to 2042), with a 10-year update cycle of every Great Britain Red List in the index. The D5 indicator will be partially updated and reported on every 5 years.

D5i: Red List Index for England by broad taxonomic group, 2022 baseline

Source: Natural England

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Notes on Figure

Results are based on Great Britain Red List assessments of species known to be native to England.

The Red List Index for England includes 8,259 taxa across 23 major taxonomic groups. The 'Aggregate' category summarises the results for all these taxa. Thereafter, taxonomic groups are shown in order of decreasing extinction risk from top to bottom.

Comparisons of Red List Index values between groups can be uncertain because of differences in underlying Red List data, including data quality, taxonomic rank, and extinction definitions.

Trend Description

The aggregate value of the Red List Index for England for the baseline year of 2022 was 0.9070, while the index values for individual groups ranged from 0.7387 to 0.9747, with a median of 0.8979. Butterflies; birds; and amphibians and reptiles had the lowest Red List Index values (highest extinction risk) of 0.7387, 0.7448 and 0.7692 respectively, while hoverflies; millipedes, centipedes and woodlice; and water bugs had the highest values (lowest extinction risk) of 0.9747, 0.9689 and 0.9651 respectively.

Assessment: D5i

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as a suitable time series is not yet available in the Environmental Indicator Framework.

D5ii: Percentage of species in the 2022 baseline Red List Index for England by category of extinction risk

Source: Natural England

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Notes on Figure

Results are based on Great Britain Red List assessments of species known to be native to England.

The Red List Index for England includes 8,259 taxa across 23 major taxonomic groups.

For the purposes of this indicator component, the ‘Extinct’ category includes taxa that are Extinct (in Great Britain), Extinct in the Wild, Regionally Extinct and Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct). The combined ‘Threatened Categories’ total presented here is simply the total number of taxa in the Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered categories, calculated as a percentage of the total number of taxa in the Red List Index for England.

Trend Description

In the 2022 baseline year, of the 8,259 native species (taxa) in the Red List Index for England, 1.8% were either Extinct (in Great Britain), Regionally Extinct, Extinct in the Wild or Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), 12% were considered to be in one of the 3 threatened categories (1.9% Critically Endangered, 3.7% Endangered and 6.4% Vulnerable) and a further 6% were considered to be Near Threatened. The remaining 80% of the species in the index were categorised as 'Least Concern' in this baseline assessment. Note that Least Concern species can be in decline but not at a rate, or to a degree, sufficient to be considered at risk of extinction.

Assessment: D5ii

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as a suitable time series is not yet available in the Environmental Indicator Framework.

Metadata

Headline	Wildlife and wild places
Primary Goal	Restored nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature
Relevant Targets	Taking action to recover threatened, iconic or economically important species of animals, plants and fungi, and where possible to prevent human induced extinction or loss of known threatened species in England and the Overseas Territories
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	Relevant to Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on land), May provide evidence in support of Climate Change Risk Assessment under the Climate Change Act (2008)
Geographical Scope	England
Development Status	Final
First Reported	2023
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2022

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D6: Relative abundance and distribution of priority species in England

Short Description

Priority Species are those identified as the most threatened or declining species in the UK. They were identified to support UK conservation planning and are published and maintained by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Priority species are used as the reference source to produce statutory species lists of principal conservation importance. Such lists are published by the Secretary of State under Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. There are 940 priority species recognised in England.

This indicator has two components: (a) changes in the relative abundance of those priority species for which suitable abundance data are available; and (b) changes in the distribution of those priority species for which suitable distribution data are available. The relative abundance of a species will increase when the population of the species grows, and it will decrease when the population of the species declines. The distribution index, also referred to as the occupancy index, measures the number of 1 kilometre grid squares across the country in which species are recorded each year. It will increase when a species becomes more widespread and decrease when a species becomes less widespread.

Readiness and Links to Data

An interim indicator is presented here showing trends for the relative abundance and distribution of priority species at an England-level. A newly developed relative abundance measure was incorporated into this indicator in 2024. Further details about this abundance measure, including taxonomic breakdowns, a technical background section that describes the data sources and methods in greater detail, and a spreadsheet that contains a list of species within the index together with a more granular breakdown of the data are available in the annual Indicators of species abundance in England statistics release. The data are published as an official statistic in development to gather feedback and facilitate user involvement in the development of the indicator.

Further details about the distribution measure are published annually as England Biodiversity Indicator – Status of priority species: distribution. This includes a technical background document that describes the data sources and methods in detail, a list of species within the index, and a spreadsheet that contains a more granular breakdown of the data.

Methods are being developed to refine the future reporting of this indicator and to expand the taxonomic coverage.

Notes on Indicator

The taxonomic coverage of this indicator is limited at present. The relative abundance measure includes priority birds, butterflies, moths, some mammals (one hare, one dormouse, one water vole and five bats), some fish, two freshwater invertebrates, one bumblebee and one vascular plant. It does not currently include any fungi, amphibians, or reptiles. The distribution measure includes priority species of bryophytes, lichens, insects and other invertebrates but does not currently include amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish or mammals. Species will be added to this indicator if they are included on the priority species list and suitable data become available, or if they become recognised as priority species and suitable data is available that meets the criteria set out in the Technical annex of Indicators of species abundance in England.

Two possible versions of the relative abundance measure are currently presented here, 'option 1' with a greater degree of smoothing applied (using a 10-year timescale) and 'option 2' with a lesser degree of smoothing (using a 3-year timescale). Smoothing is applied to the species abundance indicator to identify long-term trends in otherwise noisy data. A greater degree of smoothing may provide a clearer view of the underlying long-term trend, while a lesser degree of smoothing preserves the shorter-term patterns in the data. The results given in the commentary are based on the values of both trends and are intended to communicate the extent to which reliance of these trends are dependent on methodological decisions. Further details on this methodology are available in the Indicators of species abundance in England statistical release.

While the data currently available on the distribution of priority species in England presented in indicator D6b mostly predate the 25 Year Environment Plan, they provide the most recently available assessment of this measure. They also enable a better understanding of a baseline from which to measure progress towards the goals of the Environmental Improvement Plan when the indicator is next updated.

D6ai: Relative abundance of priority species in England, 1970 to 2023

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

This composite measure of relative abundance is based on 161 species (76 moths, 44 birds, 21 butterflies, eight mammals, one bumblebee, eight fish, two freshwater invertebrates and one vascular plant).

The graph shows the smoothed trends for the relative abundance of these 161 species under two different smoothing scenarios; 'option 1' being smoothed over a 10-year timescale (effectively applying more smoothing) and 'option 2' being smoothed over a 3-year timescale (effectively applying less smoothing).

The shaded areas on the graph represent the 95% credible intervals (measures of uncertainty) for the two smoothed trends. The index values represent change from the baseline value in 1970; therefore, the credible intervals widen over time as confidence in the estimates of change relative to the baseline fall.

The credible intervals capture the variation in trends across species, but not uncertainty in the underlying species abundance indices. Furthermore, they do not capture uncertainty associated with the spatial locations of sample points, nor about the degree to which the species represent wider biodiversity.

Trend Description

By 2023, the index of change in the relative abundance of priority species in England had declined to around 23% of its baseline value in 1970, with the majority of these changes taking place in the last three decades of the 20th century. More recently, between 2018 and 2023, the relative abundance index showed no meaningful change over the latest five years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D6ai

The composite relative abundance of priority species measure is also reported in Indicators of species abundance in England. This statistical release presents a short-, medium- and long-term assessment for the same time periods used in this Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. These assessment results were reused here as the method in the source publication is tailored to the specific composite abundance index and it factors-in information on confidence. The assessment found little or no change in the relative abundance of priority species in England over the short- and medium-term periods and a decline (deterioration) over the long-term.

Details on the assessment methodology used for this indicator can be found in the ‘assessment of change’ section of the Indicators of species abundance in England statistical release. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D6ai	Smoothed index (options 1 and 2)	Short term	2018 to 2023	-5.8 to -3.8	Smoothed data	Little or no change
D6ai	Smoothed index (options 1 and 2)	Medium term	2013 to 2023	-9.5 to -9.9	Smoothed data	Little or no change
D6ai	Smoothed index (options 1 and 2)	Long term	1970 to 2023	-77.1 to -77.30	Smoothed data	Deterioration

Note that smoothed data presented in the indicator charts were used for percentage change calculations. The smoothing method is specific to this indicator and differs from the default Loess smoothing approach adopted for most indicators for the Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. Percentage change refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range.

D6aii: Long-term and short-term changes in the relative abundance of individual priority species in England, 1970 to 2023

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

Composite indices mask individual species trends, therefore, this bar chart shows the percentage of the 161 priority species within the indicator that have increased, decreased or displayed little or no overall change in their relative abundance over two time periods, (i) long term (since the time series began in 1970) and (ii) short term (latest five years of the time series).

Trend Description

The long-term decline in the overall abundance of priority species in England shown in D6ai reflects the trends of the individual species within the index, 66% of which showed a strong or weak decrease and 17% of which showed a strong or weak increase in abundance since 1970. Over the short-term period (between 2018 and 2023), 45% showed a strong or weak decrease and 41% of species showed a strong or weak increase in abundance over the latest five years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D6aii

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as it is based on the same underlying data that are already assessed in D6ai.

D6bi: Distribution of priority species in England, 1970 to 2016

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

This composite measure of distribution is based on 181 species (comprising 93 moths, 16 lichens, 13 bees, nine bryophytes, nine spiders and seven wasps togethether with a further 34 other invertebrates).

The shaded area on the graph represents the 95% credible interval (measure of uncertainty) for the smoothed index.

Trend Description

By 2016, the index of distribution of priority species in England had declined to 83.7, a decrease of around 16% from its 1970 value. More recently, between 2011 and 2016, the distribution index declined from 92.3 to 83.7 (by around 9% of the 2011 value), again a meaningful decrease over the latest five years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D6bi

An indicator for the distribution of priority species in England is also reported in the England Biodiversity Indicators, which presents a short- and long-term assessment for the same time periods used in this Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. The assessment methodology and results from the England Biodiversity Indicators are reused here as they are more tailored to the specific dataset and factor-in information on confidence. The same methodology is also used to calculate a medium-term assessment. The assessment found a decline (deterioration) in the distribution of priority species in England over the short- and long-term time periods.

Change since 2018 has not been assessed for this indicator as sufficient data are not yet available.

Details on the England Biodiversity Indicators assessment methodology for this indicator can be found in section 2 of the latest England Biodiversity Indicators report. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D6bi	Smoothed index	Short term	2011 to 2016	-9.30	Smoothed data	Deterioration
D6bi	Smoothed index	Medium term	2006 to 2016	-12.03	Smoothed data	Deterioration
D6bi	Smoothed index	Long term	1970 to 2016	-16.32	Smoothed data	Deterioration

Note that smoothed data presented in the indicator charts were used for percentage change calculations. The smoothing method is specific to this indicator and differs from the default Loess smoothing approach adopted for most indicators for the Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. Percentage change refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range.

D6bii: Long-term and short-term changes in the distribution of individual priority species in England, 1970 to 2016

Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

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Notes on Figure

Composite indices mask individual species trends, therefore, this bar chart shows the percentage of the 181 priority species within the indicator that have increased, decreased or displayed little or no overall change in their distribution over two time periods, (i) long term (since the time series began in 1970) and (ii) short term (latest five years of the time series).

Trend Description

The long-term decline in the overall distribution of priority species in England shown in D6bi masks the trends of the individual species within the index, with 38% showing a decrease in distribution and 24% of species showing an increase in distribution since 1970. Over the short-term period (2011 to 2016), 59% of priority species showed a decrease in distribution and 13% of species showed an increase in distribution over the latest five years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D6bii

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as it is based on the same underlying data that are already assessed in D6bi.

Metadata

Headline	Not applicable
Primary Goal	Restored nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature
Relevant Targets	Taking action to recover threatened, iconic or economically important species of animals, plants and fungi, and where possible to prevent human induced extinction or loss of known threatened species in England and the Overseas Territories
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	Sustainable Development Goal 15 Life on Land
Geographical Scope	England
Development Status	Interim
First Reported	2019
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2023

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D7: Species supporting ecosystem functions

Short Description

All species have a functional role within ecosystems such as photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, nutrient cycling, predator-prey and symbiotic relationships such as pollination. Plants, fungi, algae, invertebrates and soil micro-organisms are particularly important. The presence, abundance and diversity of species are key factors in determining the resilience of ecosystems to environmental changes, including climate change and disease, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. Further research is required to develop this indicator, building on the existing UK pollinator indicator and defining species groups and functions for inclusion.

Readiness and Links to Data

An interim indicator is presented here that shows trends in the distribution of pollinators (bees and hoverflies) in the UK. While these metrics are official statistics and finalised, additional research and development is required to include a range of species groups important for supporting ecosystem functions in England. This distribution index, also referred to as an occupancy index, measures the number of 1 kilometre grid squares in which species are recorded each year. It will increase when a species becomes more widespread and decrease when a species becomes less widespread. These data are published annually as UK Biodiversity Indicator D1c – Status of pollinating insects.

D7i: Change in the distribution of pollinators in the UK, 1980 to 2022

Source: Joint Nature Conservation Committee

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Notes on Figure

This composite measure of distribution includes 158 wild bee and 236 hoverfly species; the total number of species included in the index can vary between years and hence this indicator may not be directly comparable to those appearing in previous publications.

The shaded area on the graph represents the 90% credible interval (measure of uncertainty) for the unsmoothed index.

Trend Description

There has been an overall decline in the UK pollinators index since its peak in 1987, and in 2022, the index had decreased by almost 31% compared to this peak and by almost 24% compared to its value in 1980. More recently, however, the trend has levelled off and shows little or no change in the distribution of pollinators in the UK since 2017.

Assessment: D7i

The indicator ‘Status of pollinating insects’ is also reported in the UK Biodiversity Indicators, which presents short and long-term assessments for the same time periods used in this Environmental Indicator Framework assessment. These assessment results are reused here as they are more tailored to the specific dataset and factor-in information on confidence. The methodology from the UK Biodiversity Indicators is also used here to assess change over the medium term. The assessments show little or no change in the distribution of pollinators in the UK in the short term and a decline (deterioration) over the medium and long term.

Change since 2018 has also been assessed using the UK Biodiversity Indicators methodology. There has been little or no change in the index for relative abundance of priority species in the UK since 2018. However, this result is based on only 5 data points so should be considered as indicative and not evidence of a clear trend.

Details on the UK Biodiversity Indicators assessment methodology for this indicator can be found in the Technical Annex of the UK Biodiversity Indicator page. Summaries by Environmental Improvement Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Component	Subcomponent	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
D7i	Unsmoothed index	Short term	2017 to 2022	-0.48	Unsmoothed data	Little or no change
D7i	Unsmoothed index	Medium term	2012 to 2022	-8.50	Unsmoothed data	Deterioration
D7i	Unsmoothed index	Long term	1980 to 2022	-23.88	Unsmoothed data	Deterioration

Note that unsmoothed data presented in the indicator charts were used for percentage change calculations. Percentage change refers to the difference seen between the first and last years in the specified date range.

D7ii: Long-term and short-term changes in the distribution of individual pollinator species in the UK, 1980 to 2022

Source: Joint Nature Conservation Committee

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Notes on Figure

Composite indices mask individual species trends therefore the bar chart shows the percentage of the 394 pollinator species within the indicator that have increased, decreased or shown little or no change in occupancy, based on set thresholds of change over the long term (since the time series began in 1980) and short term (latest 5 years of the time series).

Trend Description

The long-term decline in the overall distribution of pollinators in the UK shown in D7i masks the trends of the individual species within the index, 42% of which have become less widespread, 39% of which have shown little or no change and 19% of which have become more widespread since the index began in 1980. Over the short term (between 2017 and 2022) results for the individual species trends are more balanced, with 37% of species becoming less widespread, 24% showing little or no change and 39% becoming more widespread in the latest 5 years for which data are currently available.

Assessment: D7ii

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as it is based on the same underlying data that are already assessed in D7i.

Metadata

Headline	Nature on land and water
Primary Goal	Restored nature
Relevant Goals	Restored nature
Relevant Targets	Taking action to recover threatened, iconic or economically important species of animals, plants and fungi, and where possible to prevent human induced extinction or loss of known threatened species in England and the Overseas Territories
Natural Capital	Condition of assets - species and ecological communities
Related Commitments	May provide evidence in support of Climate Change Risk Assessment under the Climate Change Act (2008)
Geographical Scope	England. The interim indicator is only available for the UK.
Development Status	Interim
First Reported	2019
Last Updated	2025
Latest Data	2022

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