The issues

A giant out-of-town business park overshadows fragmented and declining hedgerows. Photo: David Rose/CPRE

Countryside under attack: a damage assessment

Urban sprawl
21 square miles of countryside — an area the size of Southampton — is lost to development every year.

Traffic
Traffic is growing faster on rural roads than in urban areas in England.

Countryside character
Since 1990, 60% of the English landscape has changed in ways which are 'inconsistent' with its traditional character.

Tranquillity
The total area of 'tranquil countryside' declined by 20% between 1960s and 1994, and continues to do so.

Dark skies
The proportion of England's land area enjoying truly dark skies fell from 15% to 11% between 1993 and 2000 — a drop of more than a quarter in just seven years.

Birds
Many species of farmland birds are in a precipitous decline. Tree sparrow numbers have declined by 95% since 1970; corn buntings by 85%; turtle doves by 70%; skylarks by 52%.

Farming
81,500 farmers and farm workers left the land between 1995 and 2004.