Welcome to the
Strategic Nature Network (SNN) Dashboard
About the project
The Strategic Nature Network (SNN) sets out a shared national vision for restoring and reconnecting nature across the UK. It’s a framework designed to inspire and align action across sectors — recognising nature as critical infrastructure for the country’s long-term resilience, prosperity, and wellbeing.
By identifying and connecting priority areas for protection and recovery, the SNN enables landscapes to function as integrated, living systems. These systems deliver vital services like flood mitigation, water security, climate resilience, and biodiversity recovery.
Grounded in the principles of “more, bigger, better and more joined-up” space for nature, the SNN focuses effort where it will have the greatest impact. It also recognises “white space” - areas where development and growth can take place alongside, and supported by, nature recovery.
As a strategic tool, the SNN can guide land use decisions, target investment, and support the long-term maintenance of nature as a 100-year national asset.
At its heart, the SNN is about answering a simple but powerful question:
Where should we focus our efforts to rebuild nature at the scale the UK needs?
To explore that, the mapping brings together several layers - from core areas of high ecological value, to zones with strong recovery potential, to places where nature and local economies can grow together. When combined, these layers give us a national view of opportunity:
- where restoration could be most effective
- where investment could deliver multiple benefits
- where communities could see the biggest gains
- and where nature recovery projects already exist and can be built upon
The SNN is not a prescription - it’s a tool for thinking, a way of seeing the landscape differently, and a shared reference point for planning a future where nature, climate, and people all thrive.