National Character Areas

In the 1990’s English Nature (now Natural England) adopted a ‘Natural Areas’ approach to nature conservation, and in 1996 an English Nature report (1) assessed the geological importance of each of the Natural Areas. Using a range of criteria, including the number of geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), in the area, the geological importance of each one was described as being outstanding, considerable, notable or some.

With some alterations to the boundaries, the Natural Areas have now been replaced by National Character Areas (NCAs) which divide England into 159 distinct natural areas, 15 of which occur in the North Yorkshire Geodiversity Partnership Area. Each is defined by a unique combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and cultural and economic activity. Their boundaries follow natural lines in the landscape rather than administrative boundaries, making them a good decision making framework for the natural environment.

REFCODE	NAME	NOTE	GEOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE
18	HOWGILL FELLS	Formerly Cumbria Fells and Dales	Outstanding
19	SOUTH CUMBRIA LOW FELLS
21	YORKSHIRE DALES	Formerly combined	Outstanding
22	PENNINE DALES FRINGE
23	TEES LOWLANDS	Formerly Lower Tees	Notable
24	VALE OF MOWBRAY	Formerly combined with the Vale of York	Considerable
25	NORTH YORKSHIRE MOORS AND CLEVELAND HILLS	Formerly included the Howardian Hills	Outstanding
28	VALE OF YORK	Formerly combined with the Vale of Mowbray	Considerable
29	HOWARDIAN HILLS	Formerly included in the North Yorkshire Moors	Outstanding
30	SOUTHERN MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE		Considerable
33	BOWLAND FRINGE AND PENDLE HILL	Formerly the Forest of Bowland	Notable
34	BOWLAND FELLS
35	LANCASHIRE VALLEYS		Considerable
36	SOUTHERN PENNINES		Notable
39	HUMBERHEAD LEVELS		Some

Detailed area profiles are available from http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/nca/

Figure: NYGP NCA – National Character Areas in the North Yorkshire Geodiversity Partnership Area