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 A
simple way of
evaluating the environment is by reviewing the natural beauty,
heritage, wildlife, fauna and geology it has to offer. As the
South West is the largest and most rural region in England
what does it have to offer and is it a rich and diverse
environment?
All pictures on this page are pictures of Somerset's beauty.
Click each one to view in a larger detail |
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Recognised Beauty
The importance of the landscape in the South West has been
recognised with significant areas of international and
national designations for nature
conservation and landscape, and
has large
proportions of the country’s undeveloped coast.
It has a
unique mix of geology, flora and
fauna and built and historic environment that makes the South
West exceptional. Just look
the facts:
-
14
AONBs (Areas of Natural Beauty) and two National Parks
covering 37% of the
region
- 700 miles of National
Trails including the South West Coast Path, attracting
over 15 million visitors.
- 638 kms of designated
Heritage Coast (61% of the total for England)
- over 3,700 Sites of
Special Scientific Interest
- around 40 National
Nature Reserves
- two World Heritage
Sites (Stonehenge/Avebury and the city of Bath)
- over 6,000 Ancient
Monuments
- over 108,000 listed
buildings
- almost half the UK's
designated bathing waters
- high proportions of the
UK's rarest and most endangered habitats (for instance, 57%
of the UK's flower rich meadows)
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Wildlife, Geology and Countryside
English Nature summarizes the South West as 'one
of the most rich and diverse in the UK. There is an
outstanding diversity of habitats
and species that are very rare, and of very high quality, of
which the region can be justifiably proud. Prime examples
include the
heathland of Dorset, the uplands of Dartmoor and Exmoor, the
wet grasslands of Somerset, the varied wet heath of the Culm
Measures in Devon, the rolling chalk downlands of Wiltshire
and the outstanding lowland heath of the Lizard in Cornwall.
In addition the varied geology of the region is
outstanding, with
superb coastal features (including a World
Heritage Site), rich
mineral deposits and internationally important fossils. The
countryside and natural beauty of the South West, in
particular the coast (which is proportionately the longest of
any region) and the National Parks, is the mainstay of a
significant tourism industry'.
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South West
Environmental Profile
