Headline
- Overall the region's air and river water quality is better than the average for the English regions.
- Five of the region’s beaches achieved blue flag status in 2009 which is awarded for excellent bathing water quality, a clean beach and provision of facilities.
- The region is the only one to have seen an increase in both its woodland and farmland bird populations over the period 1994 - 2008.
Protection and enhancement of the natural environment
The North East’s natural environment, the habitats and landscapes of its coast, rivers, lowlands and uplands, give it a unique character. Future economic prosperity and social well-being depend on protecting and enhancing the extent and quality of this environmental infrastructure. The North East contains some of Europe’s most important wildlife sites including the Tees Estuary and the North Pennines Moors. It supports many of the UK’s most important wildlife habitats and associated species.
Air Quality
Air quality is an aspect of our environment that impacts directly on our quality of life. Several regional and national studies have shown that there is a clear association between air quality and socio-economic deprivation, with deprived communities much more likely to experience poor air quality.
The table below presents data for a Combined Air Quality Indicator developed for the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The indicator is a modelled measure of the concentration of four pollutants (Nitrogen Dioxide, Benzene, Sulphur Dioxide and PM10 Particulates) related to DEFRA and World Health Authority defined standard safe maximum values. A value of 1.0 for any pollutant represents a concentration equal to the standard, a value of 0.5 would be half the standard concentration, 2.0 would be double and so on. The values for the 4 pollutants are added together to make the overall indicator score. In general, air quality in the North East is good. In 2005, only 1.4% of areas in the region, were in the 20% worst nationally for air quality according to this indicator. The North East’s share of the worst 20% has been variable between 2001 and 2005 but has always been low.
| |
2001 |
2003 |
2005 |
| England |
20 |
20 |
20 |
| North East |
0.6 |
3.3 |
1.4 |
| Yorkshire and Humber |
20.5 |
14.2 |
11.5 |
| North West |
26.6 |
16.4 |
13.1 |
| East Midlands |
24 |
9.7 |
11.9 |
| West Midlands |
8.2 |
22.9 |
25.4 |
| East |
4.3 |
2.7 |
3 |
| London |
65.1 |
83.4 |
85.4 |
| South East |
7.8 |
4.7 |
3.7 |
| South West |
3 |
1.6 |
1.1 |
Source: Neighbourhood Statistics / Staffordshire University
In the North East as well as in the country as a whole, the major historic air pollution problem has typically been high levels of smoke and sulphur dioxide arising from the combustion of sulphur-containing fossil fuels such as coal for domestic and industrial purposes. Using legislation such as the Large Combustion Plant Directive, industrial pollution has been greatly reduced, for example sulphur dioxide emissions from regulated industry in the North East decreased by 95% between 1998 and 2009, and the major threat to clean air is now posed by traffic emissions.
Petrol and diesel-engined motor vehicles emit a wide variety of pollutants, principally oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulates (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have an increasing impact on urban air quality. In addition, photochemical reactions resulting from the action of sunlight on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and VOCs from vehicles leads to the formation of ozone, a secondary long-range pollutant, which impacts in rural areas often far from the original emission site.
The 2007 Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelandsets out health-based objectives for the main air pollutants and identifies the action that needs to be taken at international, national and local level to ensure that those objectives are met. If a local authority finds any places where the objectives are not likely to be achieved, it must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) there. The local authority then puts together a plan to improve the air quality - a Local Air Quality Action Plan.
Seven AQMAs have been declared in the North East and all are traffic related. Those in Gateshead (2), Newcastle (2) and South Tyneside (2) all concern nitrogen dioxide. The AQMA for Blyth Valley is for particulates (PM10).
There is a national network of automatic monitoring stations, operated on behalf of DEFRA, to monitor broad compliance with the Strategy objectives. Local authorities also operate specifically located monitoring stations to monitor air quality improvements resulting from their local action plans.
The graphs show recorded data for PM10 and NO2 from national monitoring stations located in the North East. The Strategy objective for PM10 annual means (40 micrograms per m3) has not been exceeded in records since 2000 while the objective for NO2 annual means (also 40 micrograms per m3) was exceeded during the hot, stable conditions at the Stockton (Yarm) roadside site. The Stockton site is the only roadside location within the national network that monitors these pollutants in the North East and it has consistently recorded the highest concentrations since it was installed in 2001. Another roadside station at Newcastle Cradlewell was opened in 2008. Data for other pollutants are available on the UK Air Quality Archive (http://www.airquality.co.uk/data_and_statistics.php).
River water quality
River water quality monitoring is in a transition phase between the General Quality Assessment (GQA) that has been used by the Environment Agency since 1990 and the EU Water Framework Directive which will assess compliance of both inland and marine waters with good ecological status. The data for all years in this table of GQA percentages have been revised, based on the reduced network that is being monitored during the transition phase.
The graphs of GQA show that the North East’s rivers have consistently been of better biological quality than the England average and, in 2009, had the highest percentage of good quality of all English regions. In the past, few years improvements have been harder to achieve against this measure. The chemical quality of the North East’s rivers is also better than the English average.
Rather than looking at biological and chemical water quality in isolation, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) assessment covers all aspects of the aquatic environment including water resources, water quality, ecology, fisheries and channel morphology. It sets higher standards than the GQA and, in 2008, only 33% of the North East’s rivers achieved “Good” or better ecological status according to the WFD assessment (compared to 88.5% GQA) with 19.4% classified as “Bad” or “Poor”.
The ultimate target under the Directive is for 100% good or better ecological status by 2027.
The Environment Agency is responsible for strategic planning and reporting to the European Commission for the Water Framework Directive. In December 2009, the Environment Agency published the Northumbria River Basin Management Plan setting out improvements that will be made up to 2015.
Bathing waters
There are currently 34 EU designated bathing waters on the region’s coast, many of them close to sizeable urban areas. There has been significant investment in recent years to deal with coastal discharges of treated sewage and, in 2009 30 of the designated waters (91%) met the highest “guideline” standard and none failed the lower “imperative” standard.
Bathing water quality tends to be better in dry years when there is less impact from sewerage system overflows.
Six of the region’s beaches achieved blue flag status in 2010 (www.blueflag.org.uk) which is awarded for excellent bathing water quality, a clean beach and provision of facilities such as lifeguards and toilets.
Bird Populations
Populations of birds are considered to be good indicators of the broad state of biodiversity because they occupy a wide range of habitats and they tend to be near to the top of the food chain. Considerable amounts of bird population data have been collected by organisations such as the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and by volunteers. The availability of this data allows for analysis of past trends and provides a means of assessing future change as well as setting quantifiable targets. Indices of wild bird populations are compiled regularly by BTO using data from a wide variety of sources
The population index of all native birds in the North East, including farmland and woodland species, increased by 15 per cent between 1994 and 2008, well above the national index. The indices for 47 of the 86 individual bird species included in the index increased by 10 per cent or more over the period, while indices for 24 species decreased by 10 per cent or more.
Bird species whose populations are taken into account when calculating the indices include goldfinch, grey partridge, lapwing, skylark, tree sparrow and corn bunting for the farmland bird index and blackbird, bullfinch, chaffinch, green woodpecker, song thrush, wren and tawny owl for the woodland bird index.
 |
|
Previously published indices showed woodland birds in the North East increasing by 45 per cent between 1970 and 1994. Pre-1994 information provided for farmland birds from the Common Birds Census is based on a relatively small number of sites and species and it is therefore difficult to draw firm conclusions. Broadly, the census suggested that, between 1970 and 1994, almost three quarters of farmland bird species in the region were in decline, with less than a third increasing.
Populations of farmland birds in the region are being supported by targeting of Environmental Stewardship arable options (see below) to create bird friendly habitat, for example through the enhancement of field margins, the creation of conservation headlands, and the use of wild bird seed mixtures.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are nationally important nature conservation sites which support England’s very best wildlife and geology.
Nationally there are over 1 million hectares of land designated as SSSI. In the North East Region there are 245 sites covering 110,488 hectares. By area the majority of the SSSIs are upland habitats with other important concentrations along the coast. In the lowlands there are a range of small but highly fragmented grassland sites locally associated with the Whin Sill and Magnesian limestone outcrops.
Natural England is responsible to bring 95% of SSSI by area into favourable or recovering condition by the end of 2010. At present 95.5% of the region’s SSSIs are in this condition. This compares with a national figure of around 94%.
SSSIs in Favourable or Recovering Condition (%) by Region, 2003-2010
|
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
|
England
|
58.9
|
62.1
|
65.3
|
71.3
|
73.8
|
83.4
|
89.7
|
93.2
|
|
North East
|
41.9
|
46.2
|
50.8
|
53.6
|
64.3
|
80.8
|
94.2
|
95.4
|
|
Yorkshire and Humber
|
43.7
|
55.7
|
58.9
|
60.1
|
68.9
|
79
|
88.6
|
95.7
|
|
North West
|
59.3
|
67.3
|
77.4
|
81.8
|
83.6
|
87.4
|
92.8
|
94.3
|
|
East Midlands
|
50.9
|
48.8
|
52.3
|
68.5
|
69.7
|
92.5
|
94.9
|
96.6
|
|
West Midlands
|
55.9
|
62
|
65.7
|
71.6
|
71.1
|
76.8
|
84.9
|
87.4
|
|
East
|
75.9
|
76.6
|
77.2
|
78.7
|
77.2
|
77.9
|
78.5
|
87.6
|
|
London
|
68.8
|
63.5
|
59.7
|
70.1
|
70.4
|
73.7
|
76.8
|
76.6
|
|
South East
|
65.6
|
67
|
70
|
78.6
|
80.1
|
85.9
|
92.1
|
93.8
|
|
South West
|
67.9
|
71.4
|
75.6
|
78.9
|
78.7
|
83
|
87.1
|
90
|
Source: Natural England (2010 figure taken at 1 June 2010)
Current condition of SSSIs in North East Region (August 2009)
| |
Area (ha) |
Percentage |
| Favourable |
26,266.61 |
22.66 |
| Unfavourable - Recovering |
69,196.99 |
72.85 |
| Unfavourable - No Change |
9,301.19 |
4.06 |
| Unfavourable - Declining |
2,000.26 |
0.42 |
| Part Destroyed / Destroyed |
227.94 |
0.01 |
Source: Natural England (2009 figure taken at 1 August 2009)
There are a range of reasons for the unfavourable condition of SSSIs. The three most important all impact upon upland SSSIs. They are moor burning (22% of unfavourable area), peatland grazing management (52%) and peatland drainage (11%). Good management of peatland also contributes to broader environmental issues such as discolouration of drinking water and carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.
Environmental stewardship agreements
Natural England is able to use DEFRA’s Environmental Stewardship schemes to enter into agreements with farmers and other land owners prescribing very specific outcomes which alongside programmes of capital works provide the means to deliver favourable condition on SSSIs or enhance habitats for farmland birds. Within the region there are currently 374 Higher Level Scheme (HLS) agreements covering over 126,6000 hectares. In 2010/11 the HLS will deliver over 3500 hectares of SSSI into recovering condition and maintain a further 9,700 hectares. A partnership approach allows other mechanisms, such as Forestry Commission land management grants or Environment Agency regulation, to be combined with the stewardship agreements to increase effectiveness.
Green Infrastructure and health
The region contains a whole network of green spaces that provide a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits. Collectively these are referred to as Green Infrastructure, a term that includes many areas of green space from urban gardens, parks and cemeteries through to large areas of open moor or woodland and sites with nature designations, such as SSSI. These green spaces, especially if connected, can provide significant benefits to wildlife and biodiversity and address other policy priorities such as flood risk management, climate change adaptation and economic development. Proximity and accessibility to Green Infrastructure also provide benefits for physical and mental health. Research from across Europe found people living in areas with high levels of greenery to be three times more likely to be physically active and 40% less likely to be overweight or obese than those living in areas with low levels of greenery (Health, place and nature, Sustainable Development Commission, 2008). This is particularly relevant in a region that has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the most deaths from cancer and the second highest rate of coronary heart disease. The government’s Physical Activity plan ‘Be Active Be Healthy’ published in Feb 2009, estimated the annual cost of physical inactivity in the North East Region at around £40M.
Latest research from the Universities of Bristol and East Anglia shows that, even after taking account of socio-economic variations, people living more than 2 kilometres away from a park were less likely to be physically active and 27% more likely to be overweight or obese. These findings reinforce earlier research conducted by Glasgow and St Andrew’s Universities which found that people who live near to green spaces live longer (Mitchell R, Popham F. Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study (Lancet 2008; 372: 1655-1660).
The North East Strategy for Health and Well-being acknowledges this link when it states in its vision that…
“The North East population will be the most physically active in the country, both in its activities of daily living and in its recreational choices… The North East environment will be the most conducive to health in the country, maximising its natural resources to the best advantage of its people…”
In Space for the People (2010), the Woodland Trust presents a range of findings from its latest analysis of access to woodland in the UK. The report reveals that, overall in the North East, 18% of the population live within 500m of at least one area of woodland of no less than 2ha in size. This compares with 14.5% for England as a whole and is the second highest regional percentage in the country. The overall figure masks considerable variation around the North East, with County Durham (36.4%) and Redcar and Cleveland (35.1%) among the highest in the country, while Darlington (4.8%) is one of the lowest.