Fate of semi-natural grassland in England between 1960 and 2013: a test of national conservation policy

It is well documented that significant losses in semi-natural grassland occurred across
Europe during the second half of the twentieth century. However, comparatively few
studies have investigated and quantified the fate of large numbers of individual grassland
areas. This is important for understanding the causes of decline, and consequently
establishing new policies to conserve and restore lost habitats. This study addresses this
problem; GIS was used to compare historic survey data collected between 1960 and 1981
with two contemporary spatial datasets of habitats in England. The datasets included the
Priority Habitats Inventory 2013 and the Land Cover Map 2007 and this was undertaken for
different types of semi-natural grassland across England. Considerable decreases occurred
across the different grassland types, with a loss of 47% of studied semi-natural grasslands
sites in England over 32–53 years. Of this, the majority of grassland was lost to conversion to
agriculturally-improved grassland or arable cultivation, 45% and 43% respectively. Changes
to woodland and urban areas were also evident, but on a much smaller scale. Sites receiving
statutory protection as a Site of Special Scientific Interest were found to have retained
more grassland (91%), compared with non-protected sites (27%), thus highlighting the
effectiveness of this aspect of current conservation policy in England, and the need for this
to continue in the future.