In order to translate the reality of landscape diversity into an appropriate knowledge framework for comprehensive local action a key component of England’s nature conservation strategy for the 1990s was the ‘Natural Areas’ approach. The countryside was divided up according to the clustering of significant combinations of wildlife and natural features. These 120 areas of local distinctiveness defined a series of natural areas with boundaries based on the distribution of natural features, wildlife and on the land use pattern and human history of each area. The viewpoint was that the uniformity these areas offered was a more effective knowledge framework for integrating conservation strategies and operations than areas contained within the administrative boundaries of local govenment. In particular the Natural Areas approach appeared to give a new way of determining priorities for nature conservation in areas with ecological and landscape integrity, and to set objectives which reflect these priorities across administrative boundaries and organisations.

The natural areas concept encourages a focus on all parts of the country because all natural areas have their own characteristic wildlife features, even though some natural areas are richer in wildlife than others.

After a wide range of local consultations on the boundaries of the Natural Areas themselves and what should be used to define their distinctive character, a profile of each area was published. A profile describes the wildlife and natural features of a Natural Area, and says what makes it special and distinctive. It therefore includes nature conservation objectives that are particular to the area. Essentially, a natural area is a part of the country that has a unique combination of natural features and land-use, mainly influenced by landform, climate and soils.

By using natural areas it is easier to identify common processes, issues and trends affecting each aspect of the natural resource and decide how it should be conserved. The natural area framework also sets conservation objectives within the whole landscape, moving outwards from the current focus on small areas with high concentrations of wildlife, and linking isolated sites in a common management framework. At a practical level, management know how about a particular feature should be more easily transferable from site to site within a Natural Area.

The practical aims of a natural area profile are to influence nature conservation actions for the foreseeable future by:

providing an analysis of the current extent of the conservation resource, the changes that have occurred, and trends that are influencing the resource;

highlighting threats and issues; ie the factors that have to be addressed by conservation managers setting strategic objectives for the conservation of large tracts of wildlife and natural resources. These objectives are intended to be wide- ranging and visionary. If they are all achieved, then the needs of nature conservation will be achieved. The objectives are for the whole conservation community, and for the wider community who influence land management and land-use. Some objectives may be achievable by conservationists in the short- term. Other objectives may take a long time to achieve, and will require change in other sectors, such as agriculture.

The Natural Area concept includes local people's recognition of the area. People are stakeholders in local wildlife because plants, animals and natural features have developed within their community’s culture and history. Although generally the wildlife and natural features of Natural Areas are elements that people recognise as being distinctive, sometimes the local recognition of the impact of history and culture require Natural Areas to be subdivided or combined to make them socially meaningful. These areas with a particular cultural unity are described as Character Areas. For example, the London Basin is a Natural Area divided into seven Character Areas; the East Anglian Plain is also a Natural Area divided into three Character Areas.

With regard to conservation action plans, the operational component of a Character Area is a landscape that can be identified by local people as a asset. This usually encapsulates the built and green heritage assets of their community, but larger socially meaningful landscape heritage units may emerge based on river valleys or watersheds that contain parts of more than one Natural Area.

Therefore, a Natural Area profile does not set precise targets for any parts of the conservation resource. It prescribes no actions, contains no work programmes, nor has time scales for achievement. It simply sets a uniform knowledge framework for current and future action. New action plans or programmes, for particular species, habitats or organisations, may be drawn up as a result of the analyses in a profile, but they will not become part of that profile. They will be management plans for specific places within a Natural Area. The local targets will be ecologically relevant, by being based on an understanding of the Natural Area's resource and objectives. However, the administrative framework for action remains based on Local Authority areas, as many other organisations use those boundaries (e.g. County Wildlife Trusts, FWAG). In this context, each county has a Biodiversity Action Plan that includes elements from the all the natural areas in the county, to be worked upon using the county as the implementation unit.