The latest UK biodiversity indicators show a mixed picture: many long-term measures have declined, while the country has extensive natural ecosystems, protected areas and an expanding evidence base. The figures below cover the UK unless a country or particular geography is specified, and the measurement periods differ between indicators.
Contents
- Priority species and abundance
- Bird populations by habitat
- Pollinator distribution and value
- Natural and semi-natural ecosystems
- Protected areas and condition
- Biodiversity records and evidence
Priority species and abundance
The combined priority-species lists for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland contain 2,890 species, according to the UKBI - Priority species abundance indicator, published in 2025. Priority lists are a policy and conservation grouping; they are not a count of every species found in the UK.
The associated abundance indicator covers 251 species in its long-term series from 1970 to 2023, and 244 species in its short-term series from 2018 to 2023. Across the long-term series, the relative-abundance index fell to 38% of its 1970 baseline by 2023. In other words, the indicator’s combined index was substantially below its starting point, although that does not mean every species followed the same trajectory.
The direction of change varied within the indicator. Between 1970 and 2023, 24% of species showed either a strong or weak increase, while 52% showed either a strong or weak decline. For the shorter period from 2018 to 2023, 41% showed a strong or weak increase and 41% showed a strong or weak decline. These percentages describe the species included in the relevant indicator series, not all 2,890 priority species.
Bird populations by habitat
The UKBI - Birds of the wider countryside and at sea indicator separates bird populations by habitat and season. Its time spans are not identical, so each comparison needs to be read against its stated baseline.
| Bird group | Long-term change | Recent change | Periods stated by the indicator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmland birds | -62% | -11% | 1970–2024; 2019–2024 |
| Woodland birds | -32% | Not stated | 1970–2024 |
| Breeding water and wetland birds | -10% | -4% | 1975–2024; 2019–2024 |
| Seabirds | -37% | Not stated | 1986–2024 |
| Upland birds | -11% | Not stated | 1994–2024 |
| Wintering waterbirds | +92% | Not stated | winter 1975/1976–winter 2023/2024 |
Farmland bird populations declined by 62% between 1970 and 2024, including an 11% decline in the five years from 2019 to 2024. Over the same long-term farmland period, 63% of farmland bird species declined; in the most recent five-year period to 2024, 42% declined.
Woodland bird populations declined by 32% from 1970 to 2024. Thirty-five percent of woodland bird species declined across that period, while 41% declined during the most recent five-year period to 2024. The recent species percentage and the long-term population index measure related but different aspects of change.
Breeding water and wetland bird populations declined by 10% between 1975 and 2024, and by 4% between 2019 and 2024. Seabird populations declined by 37% between 1986 and 2024, with 38% of seabird species declining over that period. Upland bird populations declined by 11% between 1994 and 2024, while 34% of upland bird species declined.
Wintering waterbirds provide a contrasting result. Their population increased by 92% between winter 1975/1976 and winter 2023/2024. However, 46% of wintering waterbird species declined in the most recent five-year period, from winter 2019/2020 to winter 2023/2024. A rising group index can therefore coexist with declines among a substantial share of individual species.
Pollinator distribution and value
The UKBI - Pollinating insects indicator covers 393 species in its 1980–2024 series: 158 wild bees and 235 hoverflies. It measures distribution, meaning how widespread species are in the recording data, rather than population size or abundance.
The pollinator distribution index was 23% below its 1980 value in 2024. There was 0% change in the indicator between 2019 and 2024. The unchanged recent index should not be read as recovery to the 1980 level: the long-term comparison still places the 2024 index below its baseline.
Species-level results were uneven over the long term. Nineteen percent of UK pollinator species became more widespread between 1980 and 2024, including 11% showing a strong increase in distribution. By contrast, 38% became less widespread, including 22% showing a strong decline in distribution.
Pollinators also have an economic dimension. The same indicator source reports that insect pollination was valued at £400 million per year to the UK economy in a 2010 valuation. That is a valuation for 2010, not a current annual estimate, and it should not be presented as a 2024 or 2025 market value.
Natural and semi-natural ecosystems
The UKBI - Extent of natural ecosystems inventory reports 2025 coverage for natural and semi-natural ecosystems. UK terrestrial natural and semi-natural ecosystems cover 5,885,239 hectares, or 24% of UK land area. Marine natural and semi-natural ecosystems cover 73,010,200 hectares, equivalent to 100% of the UK sea area used by this indicator.
Together, the terrestrial and marine figures cover 78,895,439 hectares, or 81% of the combined area used in the inventory. The combined percentage should be understood as an indicator-area calculation, not as a claim that 81% of every land-and-sea surface has the same ecological condition.
Selected terrestrial and marine ecosystem components illustrate the scale and variety of the inventory:
- Boreal, temperate and montane peat bogs cover 2,327,351 hectares.
- Cool temperate heathlands cover 1,254,889 hectares.
- Deciduous temperate forests cover 1,057,911 hectares.
- Subtidal rocky reefs cover 798,400 hectares in the component ecosystem inventory.
- Oceanic cool temperate rainforests cover 157,823 hectares.
- Small permanent freshwater lakes cover 220,492 hectares.
- Coastal saltmarshes and reedbeds cover 50,164 hectares.
These are extent figures from the 2025 natural-ecosystem inventory. Extent alone does not describe habitat quality, species abundance or conservation condition.
Protected areas and condition
The UKBI - Protected areas indicator recorded 2.60 million hectares of formally protected UK land and freshwater at 31 March 2025, representing 10.7% of land area. Formally protected sea covered 33.82 million hectares, or 38.2% of UK waters, on the same date.
The total formally protected UK land-and-sea area remained about 36 million hectares from December 2020 to 31 March 2025. A stable total area does not by itself show whether individual sites improved, deteriorated or changed management during that period.
Protection differed between the four UK countries in 2025:
| Country | Protected land | Share of land area |
|---|---|---|
| England | 0.85 million hectares | 6.5% |
| Scotland | 1.39 million hectares | 17.6% |
| Wales | 0.23 million hectares | 10.9% |
| Northern Ireland | 0.14 million hectares | 9.8% |
At sea, England had 9.27 million hectares of protected sea, covering 40.3% of its sea area, while Scotland had 22.76 million hectares, covering 36.9% of its sea area. The country-level land and sea percentages use their respective areas and should not be compared as if they were one common denominator.
Designation is separate from condition. In 2025, 62% of UK A/SSSI features were in favourable or unfavourable-recovering condition. This measure concerns the condition classification of features, not the percentage of all protected land or all UK biodiversity that is in good condition.
Biodiversity records and evidence
The UK Biodiversity Indicators 2025 datafile reports counts of UK biodiversity records in the NBN Atlas. The figures are records dated within each period, rather than a direct estimate of the number of individual organisms or species present.
The Atlas recorded 2,111,610 UK biodiversity records dated 1950–1959 and 17,101,909 dated 1980–1989. The count reached 75,536,764 for 2000–2009 and 117,969,989 for 2010–2019. For 2020–2025, it recorded 44,093,528 records. The last period covers six calendar years and should not be compared directly with the ten-year periods without accounting for that difference.
Across all time in the 2025 dataset, the NBN Atlas contained 174,042,793 UK records at grid resolutions of 1 kilometre or finer. It contained 124,141,625 records at resolutions coarser than 1 kilometre and finer than 10 kilometres, plus 275,332 records at resolutions of 10 kilometres or coarser.
Record counts are evidence availability, not a simple biodiversity score. They can reflect recording effort, data submission, digitisation, coverage and changes in spatial precision as well as changes in wildlife. The supplied dataset does not establish that the increase in records represents a corresponding increase in species abundance or distribution.