Policy paper

Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme

Updated 14 August 2025

Applies to England

The UK government is committed to restoring and enhancing the environment for the next generation, leaving it in a better state than we found it. 

As part of this commitment, the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme is surveying England’s land, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems to produce a baseline assessment of our natural assets by 2029. The NCEA is Defra’s (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) largest research and development programme. 

Alongside delivering the baseline, the NCEA is investing in Defra’s long-term environmental monitoring capabilities, enabling a natural capital approach to policy and decision-making. This underpins the great value of managing our ecosystems, improving the way we make decisions, and ensuring investments in environmental reforms achieve maximum benefits.

Objectives 

NCEA has established natural capital monitoring as a national strategic capability and is: 

• increasing quantity, quality and relevance of environmental data, evidence and systems-level insights to inform ambitious, proactive and sustainable decisions
• improving how environmental data, evidence and insight are used in government decisions
• enabling businesses, the public, and others to make informed decisions affecting the environment
• successfully moving to a sustainable funding and delivery model to ensure the long-term impact of NCEA

NCEA partnerships 

The NCEA programme is delivered through partnerships with:

• Environment Agency
• Forest Research
• Natural England
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The programme further collaborates with research partners (including UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and non-governmental organisation communities. By sharing techniques for measuring location, condition and trends, we enhance natural capital monitoring. 

NCEA products and networks

NCEA’s headline products and key monitoring networks.

Products

Ancient Woodland Inventory update

An updated map of ancient woodland, pasture, and parkland in England.

Use the Ancient Woodland Inventory update. 

Citizen Science Project

This is several workstreams aiming to map, standardise methods, provide guidance for and improve the coordination of citizen survey efforts collecting environmental data, including setting up a citizen science resource portal. 

Earth Observation Habitat Condition Change Detection

Changes in habitat detected from satellite data, including maps of indexes computed from satellite data and statistics on observed change.

England Peat Map

A map of peat depth, vegetation, drainage channels, and bare peat in England.

Use the England Peat Map.

‘Find Natural Capital Data’ search tool

This is a digital service enabling search and access of natural capital relevant data and information from the NCEA programme and third parties.

Use the ‘Find Natural Capital Data’ search tool. 

Green Infrastructure Map

These are databases showing where important green (parks, street trees, green bridges, private gardens, woodlands) and blue (ponds, rivers) infrastructure can be found across England, represented as a series of maps.

Use the Green Infrastructure map.

Living England Map

A nationwide broad habitat map created using satellite imagery, field data records and other geospatial data.

Use the Living England map. 

Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) Data Viewer

A map viewer containing multiple datasets relevant to local authorities creating their Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

Use the LNRS Data Viewer.

National Habitat network maps

A series of datasets describing the extent and location of habitat networks for 18 priority habitats.

Priority Habitat Inventory update

An update to the map showing the locations and extent of priority habitats in England.

Use the Priority habitat inventory update map.

Summarised Botanical Value map and Botanical Heatmap

A strategic maps of where rare plants species have been identified by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), summarised at a landscape and local scale.

Use the Summarised Botanical Value Map.

Trees Outside Woodland map

A map of the estimated area and location of tree canopies outside of woodlands and forests with further developments, including a hedgerow map showing the height, width and location of hedges on a national scale.

Use the Trees Outside Woodland map.

Tree Species Map

A map of probable dominant species in uniform groups of trees. 

Use the Tree Species map.

Young Trees Mapping

A map of forest areas that have been cleared and have been replanted over an 8-year period.

Monitoring networks

England Ecosystem Survey

England’s largest ever field survey collecting data to assess the state, condition and location of our soils, vegetation and landscape assets. 

Estuaries and Coasts Network

A survey of England’s seagrass, saltmarsh, sediment, chemicals, kelp and fish in coastal and estuarine environments.

Groundwater Monitoring Networks

Provide unbiased England-wide monitoring for groundwater quality and quantity, ecology, chemistry and groundwater fed wetlands. 

Lakes Surveillance Network

A nationally representative survey of England’s lakes and reservoirs, collecting data on ecological, chemical, and physical features. 

National Forest Inventory plus

An extension to the National Forest Inventory (NFI), consisting of multiple projects that capture data on the ecological condition of woodlands. 

River Surveillance Network Monitoring Network

A nationally representative survey of England’s rivers, collecting data on ecological, chemical, and physical features of river habitats. 

River Temperature Monitoring Network

An addition to the existing targeted monitoring network of river temperature to produce a nationally representative dataset. 

Small Streams Monitoring Network

A nationally representative survey of England’s small streams, collecting data on ecological, chemical, and physical features of river habitats. 

Soil Mycorrhizal Communities

A baseline dataset for mycorrhizal fungi across habitats in England, that can help us understand how mycorrhizas can indicate ecosystem condition. 

Water Quantity Monitoring Network

An addition to the existing targeted monitoring network of river flow monitoring, to produce a nationally representative dataset.

Contact the NCEA if you’d like to work with us.

Marine NCEA

The 3-year marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme ended on 31 March 2025. It sat within the overarching NCEA programme, with marine and terrestrial components working together on strategic and thematic areas, including at the land-sea interface.

Through a mix of monitoring, innovation and application projects, the marine arm of the programme explored the state of England’s marine and coastal natural assets, the benefits they provide, and the value they hold for people. Between April 2022 and March 2025, the programme delivered natural capital evidence, tools and guidance to inform policy and decision making for marine and coastal environments.

Marine NCEA outputs will be available by the end of March 2026: 

• data discoverable through the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) 

• project reports on Science Search – you can find them by entering “ME45” in the search box

It was led by Defra and delivered in partnership with 5 of its arm’s length bodies: 

• Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) 
• Environment Agency 
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee 
• Marine Management Organisation 
• Natural England 

Marine NCEA further benefitted from collaboration with wider government, academic research institutes, non-governmental organisations and the private sector. 

Its evidence and approaches will help us to factor the wider value (environmental, economic and social) of nature into decision making, so we can manage our natural resources in a way that drive benefits for both people and nature. 

Contact us 

For any NCEA related enquiries, email: nceaprogramme@defra.gov.uk. 

Find out more about Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme.