Research and analysis

Methodology Note: A data led assessment of areas in England that count or have potential to count towards the 30by30 target

Published 18 March 2026

Applies to England

1. Purpose

This summary note outlines spatial analysis used by DEFRA to assess areas of land across England that meet the 30by30 criteria or have potential to meet the criteria in the future. The purpose of this work is to provide evidence to support the development of the 30by30 delivery strategy. The analysis is not exhaustive and will be further developed and refined over time as new data becomes available.

2. Policy Context

The 30by30 commitment, to effectively conserve and manage 30% of England’s land and seas by 2030, sits at the centre of the Government’s aim to ensure nature’s recovery. Progressing this target on land in England means ensuring that the most important and wildlife-rich habitats are benefiting from effective long-term conservation and management.

In 2024, England published its vision for progressing 30by30 on land in England, as well as the criteria for land and inland water areas which can count towards this target (30by30 on land in England: confirmed criteria and next steps - GOV.UK).

A 30by30 Delivery Plan is in development, to show how the Government will lead, support and inspire action across England to go further and faster in progressing 30by30. Publication is expected later this year.

3. Findings

By combining different areas of land contributing to nature recovery, our analysis indicates that approximately 32% of England’s land either currently meets, or has the ecological potential to meet, the 30by30 criteria. This area can be broken down into four separate data categories (Categories A-D):

3.1 Category A

The work here builds on analysis previously undertaken to determine land currently counting towards 30by30 – estimated at a total of ~7% of England (30by30 on land in England: confirmed criteria and next steps - GOV.UK). Table 1 provides the land areas and corresponding data sources used for this estimate.

Table 1. Datasets and sources/publications used for Category A: Land currently counting towards 30by30 (7% of England)

Area	Data sources/publications
i. SSSIs in favourable/unfavourable recovering condition	Sites of Special Scientific Interest Units (England)
ii. Public woodland recognised as sustainably managed and which is also predominantly broadleaved	- Sustainably Managed Woodland England - Headline Key Performance Indicator 31 March 2023 - National Forest Inventory England 2022
iii. Additional NNR area (not underpinned by SSSIs)	National Nature Reserves (England)

3.2 Category B

In addition to this 7%, a further 3.5% of land across England is predicted to meet the 30by30 criteria over the coming years. Table 2 provides the land areas and corresponding data sources and publications used in this figure (including individual percentages, not accounting for overlap between areas).

Table 2. Datasets and sources/publications used for Category B: Land likely meeting the 30by30 criteria or on track to do so (3.5% of England). Included are area percentages relative to the total area of England.

Area	Data sources/publications
i. Landscape recovery (rounds 1 & 2) (1.8%)	- R1: An update on the first round of Landscape Recovery projects – The Farming Blog - R2: Landscape Recovery: sharing the successful second round projects – The Farming Blog
ii. Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship agreements (20+ years) (0.02%)	- CS: Countryside Stewardship Scheme 2016 Management Options (England) - ES: Environmental Stewardship Scheme Agreements (England)
iii. RSPB nature reserves (0.4%)	RSPB Reserves
iv. Plantlife nature reserves (0.004%)	Plantlife’s Nature Reserves
v. Wider woodland recognised as sustainably managed and is mainly broadleaved (not part of the public estate) (2.6%)	- Sustainably Managed Woodland England - Headline Key Performance Indicator 31 March 2023 - National Forest Inventory England 2022

3.3 Category C

An additional 9% of England contains existing natural or semi-natural habitat which could count towards 30by30, however may need restoration, improved management and/or long-term protection. These areas are in varying condition, however at least half of this category (of 9% of England) has some existing protection or management in place. For example, 26% of this category is covered by Nature Recovery schemes, and 39% is within Protected Landscapes. Table 3 provides land areas and corresponding data sources included in this estimate.

Table 3. Datasets and sources/publications used for Category C: Additional areas needing more management or protection to meet 30by30 (9% of England)

Area	Data sources/publications
i. Deep peaty soils excluding lowland agricultural peat	Peaty Soils Location
ii. Predominantly broadleaved woodland types, not yet recognised as sustainably managed (i.e., ‘broadleaved’, ‘coppice’, ‘coppice with standards’, ‘mixed mainly broadleaved’, ‘low density’, ‘shrub’ & ‘young trees’)	- Sustainably Managed Woodland England - Headline Key Performance Indicator 31 March 2023 - National Forest Inventory England 2022
iii. Irreplaceable habitats (i.e., ‘blanket bog’, ‘limestone pavement’, ‘coastal sand dunes’ & ‘lowland fens’) and ancient woodland	- Priority Habitats Inventory (England) - Ancient Woodland (England)
iv. Wood pasture and parkland	Wood Pasture and Parkland (England)
v. Priority habitats including good quality semi-improved grassland, excluding irreplaceable habitats (C.iii) and non-priority habitats (i.e., ‘fragmented heath’, ‘grass moorland’ & ‘no main habitat’)	Priority Habitats Inventory (England)
vi. Lakes and coastal and transitional waters in good/high ecological condition	Water Framework Directive (WFD) Transitional and Coastal Water Bodies Cycle 3 Classification 2019

3.4 Category D

Further analysis has been carried out to determine land areas which do not meet the 30by30 criteria but have potential for future habitat creation or restoration. Using the Habitat Network Maps, we identified approximately 12.5% of England with strong ecological suitability for the creation of new habitat. This figure includes only high scoring potential habitat (i.e., ‘Habitat Restoration-Creation’, ‘Network Enhancement Zone 1’, ‘Fragmentation Action Zone’ & ‘Restorable Habitat’) and excludes urban areas and grade 1 (‘excellent’) and 2 (‘very good’) agricultural land. Table 4 provides sources for the datasets included.

Table 4. Datasets and sources/publications used for Category D: Additional areas with strong ecological suitability for habitat creation and restoration (12.5% of England)

Area	Data sources/publications
i. Habitat network maps (i.e., high scoring potential habitat: ‘Habitat Restoration-Creation’, ‘Network Enhancement Zone 1’, ‘Fragmentation Action Zone’ & ‘Restorable Habitat’)	Habitat Networks (Combined Habitats) (England)
ii. ALC 1 (‘excellent’) & 2 (‘very good’) (exclusion from layer)	Provisional Agricultural Land Classification (ALC)
iii. Urban areas (exclusion from layer)	Built Up Areas (December 2022) Boundaries GB BGG

4. Methodology

The figures for the four mentioned categories of datasets (A-D) have been estimated using the Spatial Intersector (SI) tool developed by DEFRA’s Spatial Data Science team. The SI tool is an approach for efficiently intersecting large numbers of spatial datasets. It utilises parallel distributed processing and can therefore perform large-scale spatial overlay operations of multiple datasets quickly (compared to conventional GIS vectorised approaches). This has enabled the testing of different data scenarios when generating these estimates. Another benefit to this approach is that the same piece of land can be captured under multiple datasets, however the tool ensures it is counted only once when generating estimates.

To perform spatial intersections, the SI tool maps the datasets into a common reference data model that uses a 10m × 10m grid system. The outputs are then analysed to provide area estimates for the different categories. All figures have been calculated to England’s Mean Low Water mark boundary (Countries (December 2023) Boundaries UK BFE).

5. Data assumptions

Some important data assumptions have been used in this analysis. For instance, woodland extent is represented using the Sustainably Managed Woodland England and National Forest Inventory (NFI) datasets. As both cover the same areas, it has been assumed that spatial intersections between the two datasets would not omit woodland parcels, with all NFI parcels represented in the Sustainably Managed Woodland dataset and vice versa. “Managed public” woodland parcels were also cross-checked against Defra land ownership data and the National Forest Estate to ensure consistency.

Good-quality semi-improved grassland has been included in Category C because, as a semi-natural habitat, it retains some biodiversity value and has potential to be restored to species-rich grassland. Although these areas may currently be grazed, they would require less significant ecological changes in land use or management to meet the 30by30 criteria.

6. Data quality considerations

This analysis is data-driven and based on the best publicly available datasets at the time the work was undertaken (August 2025). As no new datasets were collected, the analysis relies on existing published sources which may be incomplete or subject to revision. Consequently, some areas with the potential to contribute may not yet be captured within the spatial datasets used.

The precision and accuracy of the datasets were assessed for their suitability for the purposes of this analysis, and no additional methods have been applied to harmonise the datasets in this analysis beyond mapping them to the 10m × 10m grid. Some datasets inherently represent approximate or evolving information. For example, Landscape Recovery project boundaries reflect the areas where projects currently intend to operate and should be considered indicative rather than fixed. As projects develop and datasets are updated, the overall footprint of Landscape Recovery projects is likely to change, with some areas delivering similar outcomes through other schemes.

Several datasets used in the analysis have also since been updated or superseded, including the National Forest Inventory (NFI) 2023, Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) data, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) condition assessments, all of which are subject to ongoing monitoring and revision. In addition, some areas that may meet the 30by30 criteria are not yet spatially mapped and are therefore excluded from this analysis, such as off-site Biodiversity Net Gain areas (Understanding biodiversity net gain).

For peatland, the Peaty Soils Location dataset was used rather than the more recent England Peat Map. We recognise the limitations of this dataset in identifying remnant peat habitats, particularly given its age and its focus on soil classes rather than habitat types. To improve accuracy for the purposes of this analysis, land cover classes were used to filter out lowland cropland peaty soils. Further analysis could therefore replace the Peaty Soils locations with relevant layers from the England Peat Map.

7. Limitations and caveats

The work outlined uses data-driven analysis to provide an overall picture of England’s progress towards 30by30 delivery, however it includes some key limitations and caveats that should be taken into consideration.

The SI tool has proven to be a useful approach for analysing large volumes of spatial data, allowing for on-the-fly scenario creation of the 30by30 categories. However, while the model is of high accuracy, the mapping of datasets to a 10m x 10m grid resolution system (rather than using a vectorised approach) may have introduced some over or under counting to the analysis. Inaccuracy will also be introduced from differences in the scale at which datasets were captured.

The 30by30 categories mentioned also contain limitations and could be developed further:

• Category C indicates land with existing natural or semi-natural habitat (9% of England). These areas contain land that could count towards 30by30 but need further action. Further exploration could investigate the condition and management types in these areas, therefore providing more confidence in the 30by30 criteria being met.

• Category D outlines areas that have ecological potential for future habitat creation or restoration (12.5% of England). Here we have focussed on the most precise elements of the Habitat Network Maps and have excluded urban areas and grades 1 (‘excellent’) and 2 (‘very good’) agricultural land. This category does not exclude grade 3a (‘good’) agricultural land, which is also classified ‘best and most versatile land’ (BMV) and would reduce the overall figure if removed from the potential land available. Similarly, further analysis could explore how the area of potential habitat intersects with different land uses or identify additional land with suitability for habitat creation and restoration based on other factors and datasets.

8. Note published

18/03/2026

9. Contact details

30by30onland@defra.gov.uk