Office for Environmental Protection
Progress in improving the natural environment in England, 2021/2022

For this goal area, we used two OIF indicators, ‘engagement with the natural environment’ shows an improving trend, while for ‘exposure to transport noise’ there is a significant gap in evidence.

We commend Natural England’s Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment,⁴⁵ and the subsequent People and Nature surveys.⁴⁶ There has been progress with the ‘visits to the natural environment’ indicator since surveys began, and visits continue to increase. Between 2014/2015 and 2018/2019, there was a 9% increase in the number of visits to the natural environment. The surveys also show that 65% of respondents visit natural spaces at least once a week. Protecting the environment was important to 86% of respondents and 94% agreed that it provided health and wellbeing benefits. During the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to April 2021), the Office for National Statistics reported that, along with a rise in outdoor exercise, people’s interest in nature surged in England and the use of parks and public green spaces was up on previous years.⁴⁷ In 2017 it was estimated that Londoners avoid £950 million per year in health costs due to public green space in the city.⁴⁸

Government estimates that the annual social cost of urban road noise in England is £7 billion to £10 billion, a similar magnitude to the cost of road accidents (£9 billion).⁴⁹ Traffic noise is harmful to around 30% of Europeans, with 20% exposed to night-time noise levels which could significantly damage health.⁵⁰ For children, noise exposure can also result in lifelong reductions in cognitive performance and impaired wellbeing.⁵¹ These impacts may also combine with those from reduced air quality relating to traffic discussed in the Clean Air goal area.

There is a significant gap in regularly collated and processed data on noise exposure. Data are available from existing mapping, which is already supporting planning authorities, but there is no indicator available at the national level.