UK Lost Green Space Equivalent to New Forest in Five Years

UK Lost Green Space Equivalent to New Forest in Five Years
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Nature and farmland in the United Kingdom equivalent in size to the New Forest – about 604 sq km – disappeared under new developments between 2018 and 2023, The Guardian reported.
The findings are part of a cross-border investigation led by The Guardian in partnership with Arena+, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (Nina), broadcaster NRK, and other European outlets.

The project used before-and-after satellite imagery, analyzed through a machine learning system developed by Nina, to track land-use changes across Europe. The study concluded that natural areas the size of Cyprus were lost across the continent during the five-year period.

In the UK, about 12 sq km of land designated as national landscapes – formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – were also lost, equivalent to around 1,680 football pitches. The country ranked fifth in Europe for the proportion of green space lost relative to its size.

Large-scale projects were identified within protected landscapes, despite strict regulations. Among the most notable was the HS2 high-speed rail line, which cuts through the Chilterns national landscape. The Guardian verified nearly 250 major developments covering more than 10,000 sq meters each, located in areas such as the Cotswolds, Chilterns, High Weald, North Wessex Downs, Kent Downs, Dorset, and Shropshire Hills.

Alongside national infrastructure, residential and commercial projects—including housing expansions in Poundbury, Dorset, and Hungerford, Berkshire—contributed significantly to the encroachment. Smaller developments such as barns, road widening, and house extensions also accounted for land losses.

The report highlighted tensions between economic growth through construction and the environmental cost of losing natural capital. Critics argue that brownfield land, much of it unused despite existing planning permissions, could provide alternative sites for housing.

Roger Mortlock, chief executive of the countryside charity CPRE, described the UK’s ranking as “shameful,” warning that the loss of farmland and countryside undermines food security, biodiversity, and climate goals. The report comes as the government advances a new planning bill that conservation groups say could weaken protections for thousands of designated sites by allowing developers to pay into a central fund in exchange for bypassing environmental rules.