Our announcement included a landmark programme for designated landscapes including proposals for two new and two extended protected areas work on national urban landscapes and innovative ways to bring nature and people closer together. In June of last year, Natural England announced an ambitious landscapes programme to take forward Government’s policy priorities. It brings together our ambitions to restore nature and to ensure that people from all walks of life can enjoy and benefit from the natural world. That’s why landscape is such an important part of Natural England’s remit. They are the foundation of the natural systems on which everything depends. Our landscapes can help provide answers to the dual challenges we face on climate change and biodiversity loss and improve people’s health and wellbeing in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Working in close collaboration with local communities and with a wide range of partners, we see the possibility of locally distinct, wildlife rich landscapes where sustainable food, fibre and energy production run hand in hand with natural beauty where people are welcomed from all walks of life for the spiritual refreshment that nature brings, places rich in history, and steeped in culture places to see and hear nature in abundance alongside a new breed of urban landscapes, bringing nature and beauty into the heart of our towns and cities for everyone to enjoy and benefit from. Today our landscapes can help to provide additional benefits alongside those for which they were originally identified, such as nature restoration, climate change resilience and greater recreation and access for all parts of society. The world has changed a lot since 1949, and the roles of England’s landscapes are constantly changing too, in response to environmental conditions and society's needs. Subsequent legislation recognised the importance of conserving and enhancing all England’s landscapes and, with the experiences of pandemic lockdowns still fresh in our minds, it is vital that we improve urban landscapes, as well as rural. Many of Natural England’s roles date back to this Act and the systems and bodies that it established. It recognised the importance of everyone being able to access and enjoy naturally beautiful places, establishing our system of National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), alongside our system of nature conservation through SSSIs and NNRs. The ground-breaking 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was part of the post-war settlement heralding a brighter future for all parts of society. Today we know that they are also rich in natural capital, for example huge stores of carbon held in peat, and landscapes that help to ensure that rivers run pure and steady, reducing flood risk in the process. They are rightly renowned the world over: for the places they create, the history they reflect, their variety, beauty, inspiration as spaces to relax, have fun or explore and for the many natural, social and economic benefits they provide. England’s landscapes reflect our diverse and spectacular geology and natural systems, shaped by generations of activity on the land and later development. Landscape is one of Natural England’s core purposes and is at the heart of what we do. I am delighted to announce that the new Natural England Landscape Advisory Panel meets for the first time today, which is an important step in our work to deliver more for and from England’s landscapes.
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