Skip to content

Countryside survey: Wales results from 2007

Countryside Survey cover
The Countryside Survey provides a comprehensive survey of the UK countryside in the light of Government policies and environmental influences such as Climate Change.

The Countryside Survey was carried out in 2007 by the Centre of Environment and Hydrology (CEH). It was funded by central and devolved Governments, conservation agencies and the National Environment Research Council. Welsh Government and Countryside Council for Wales provided funds to survey sufficient squares to provide a statistically accurate report for Wales.

For selected 1km squares, the survey reports on the amount and condition of widespread habitats, landscape features, vegetation, land cover, soils and freshwaters.

The first Countryside Survey took place in 1978 and has been repeated four times subsequently. Previously, reporting for Wales was carried out at a combined England with Wales level.

Since 2007, additional funding has ensured that reporting will be available at a Wales-only level for most aspects of the survey. Data provided by this survey at country level will now provide a baseline for reporting against policies in the future, including the Environment Strategy for Wales.

The report highlights both positive and negative changes in habitat condition and extent across Wales. For example, Countryside Survey has detected a loss of plant species biodiversity and of butterfly larval food plants. These changes have also been seen in other parts of GB.
However, the number of ponds has increased as has the physical condition of headwater streams.

The report provides some interpretation of the results but does not attempt explain the causes of change at this stage.

The project is an important milestone in getting better information on the state of the Welsh countryside. The Welsh report will establish a baseline for assessing future trends. It is still necessary to use the combined results for England and Wales from previous Surveys to track the trends since the first Survey in 1978.

Further reports on Soils and Freshwaters will be published in 2009, together with an Integrated Assessment Report and a new UK Land Cover Map.

For further details, please visit these external web pages: