The South West is England’s largest and most rural region. Fewer than five million people live within its 23.8 thousand square kilometres - most of them in districts classed as rural. Its beauty, history and tranquillity draw tourists from all over...

REGIONAL PROFILE – The South West

Eggardon Hill Fort


The South West is England’s largest and most rural region. Fewer than five million people live within its 23.8 thousand square kilometres - most of them in districts classed as rural.

Its beauty, history and tranquillity draw tourists from all over the world and, increasingly, attract new residents, too. Natural England's regional challenge is to ensure a vibrant, healthy and well-managed countryside that is sustainable, economically viable and accessible to all.

Farming dominates the landscape but nowadays the people of the region are more likely to work in food and drink, tourism, or the public sector. New businesses and relocations are making the SW's economy buoyant but also add to existing environmental pressures, by fuelling the demand for homes and better transport connections and by generating increased use of roads, services and ‘honey pot’ countryside attractions.

Landscape
It is not only the amount of fine countryside that adds to the scenic importance of the South West. It is the huge variety of land and seascapes, too. Here can be found no fewer than 41 different landscape character types - areas that can be distinguished by their unique combinations of natural and cultural features.

In all, 37% of the region is subject to landscape designation. This includes:

  • Two national parks - Dartmoor and Exmoor, covering some seven per cent of the region;  
  • Twelve complete Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) plus parts of two others, covering some 30% of the region;  
  • More than two thirds of England’s heritage coast (638 kilometres)  
  • All, or part of, five of the country’s 13 National Trails – walking or riding routes set in the country’s finest landscapes and managed to the highest standards.
  • The country’s first Natural World Heritage Site - Dorset & East Devon’s Jurassic Coast.                      

The South West’s landscape riches also make the region important for wildlife. Many of England’s most valued habitats and species are found in the region. They include:  

  • Almost a quarter of the nation’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs);
  • 47 National Nature reserves;
  • 71 Local Nature Reserves;
  • All or part of eight world-class Ramsar (wetland) sites;
  • England’s only statutory Marine Nature Reserve – around the Isle of Lundy.                     

Recreation & Access 
The region’s outstanding landscape, with its extensive coastline, draws millions of visitors each year making access to the countryside vitally important.  

  • The region has an estimated 34,747 km of footpaths, bridleways and byways open to all traffic (the responsibility of the region’s highway and unitary authorities.) This represents 18% of the total in England. 
  • The region is home to Britain’s longest National Trail, the South West Coast Path, with a second National Trail, The Cotswold Way, being established, and parts of three others (Offas’s Dyke Path, the Thames Path and The Ridgeway) crossing the region 
  • The South West also has two of the national programme of 12 community forests, the Forest of Avon and the Great Western Community Forest. These seek to make a significant contribution to enhancing quality of life to the urban / rural fringe.                     

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 is creating a new right to walk on ‘access land’, generally mountain, moor, heath, downland and registered common land.  

The South West region takes in three access mapping areas: all of which are at different stages of the process. For a progress report, see the access section.