The natural environment
The natural environment is an asset for the economy and residents, although not everyone has equal access.
Herefordshire has two National Landscapes (Wye Valley and Malvern Hills), 9% of land area is designated for nature conservation and it borders the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park. This offers a wealth of opportunities for residents and tourists to benefit from engaging with nature.
In 2023, tourism contributed almost £736 million to the local economy. Over 5.8 million visitors spent significant time in the area, supporting over 8,000 jobs.
Shaped by the natural environment, agriculture is a cornerstone of Herefordshire’s economy, heritage and communities. In 2023, 10,000 jobs were in farming: 11% compared to just 1% across England.
However, access to green spaces is unequal. Although higher than the national average, Herefordshire does not meet the Fields in Trust Green Space Index 2023 minimum standard, and only 31% of residents live within a ten-minute walk of accessible green space. The 2021 CYP QoL survey found that more than a quarter of primary and secondary school pupils and nearly 40% of further education (FE) students had not visited parks or open spaces in the past four weeks.
The many benefits of the natural environment are under threat
The climate crisis is also a health crisis as rising temperatures and extreme weather will disrupt care and impact the health of our communities (Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care System Green Plan).
Climate change is impacting land use and food production in Herefordshire, which has a large number of low-lying areas liable to flooding. Analysis to inform the Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Herefordshire 2023-2028 found that there had been 41 severe weather events in Herefordshire between 2008 and 2022, including 11 ‘highly significant’ floods.
In 2021, 30% of Herefordshire primary school pupils, 19% of secondary school pupils, and 23% of FE students, said they were worried about the environment and climate change.
As well as risks from climate change, widespread declines in biodiversity were recognised in the council’s declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019. Pollution means that the ecological health of the entire catchment of our two biggest rivers (the Wye and its tributary the Lugg) has been downgraded to ‘poor’ (‘unfavourable-declining’) by Natural England. This is mainly attributable to nutrient run-off from intensive poultry farms and discharges of raw sewage.
The county’s only two Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs - where air pollution levels are higher than the national objectives) are on busy road junctions in Hereford and Leominster.
The Herefordshire Council Plan 2024-2028 explains how the council plans to address the environmental challenges facing the county. A Local Nature Recovery Strategy is currently being developed and a pioneering integrated constructed wetland project at Luston is attempting to mitigate local river pollution. In addition, in 2023 Herefordshire Council was ranked as the top performing local authority in the West Midlands on sustainability action for the third year in a row, after completing Sustainability West Midlands benchmarking.