HL Deb 19 July 2004 vol 664 c20WA
Lord Fearn

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many areas in England are designated as heathland; and how many heathlands have been lost in the past 10 years. [HL3648]

Lord Whitty

Over 217,000 hectares of land in England are designated as sites of special scientific interest for heathland features, of which 179,000 ha is upland heathland, and over 38,000 ha is lowland heathland. The Countryside Survey 2000, covering the period 1990–98, reported no significant change to the "dwarf shrub heath" broad habitat area1.

1 The Countryside Survey 2000. Accounting for Nature: assessing habitats in the UK Countryside, R. H. Haines-Young et al (2000). www.c2000.org.uk