Comparing People and Nature Surveys across UK nations 

Commissioned by Natural England to fulfil requirements for their statistics to be recognised by the Office for National Statistics, we produced a report which evaluated the similarities and differences in data gathered by the four UK nations in population level surveys. These four surveys collect evidence about how the public enjoy, access, and understand the natural environment. They include: 

 

• The People and Nature Survey England (PaNS) 

• Scottish People and Nature Survey (SPaNS) 

• People and Nature Survey Wales (PaNSW) 

• People in the Outdoors Monitor for Northern Ireland (POMNI). 

 

We conducted a mapping review of comparability between each nation’s survey and data, with a focus on six predetermined priorities: 

   i.   Engagement with nature 

   ii.  Nature connection 

   iii. Benefits of time outdoors in nature 

   iv. Access to greenspace 

   v.  Perceptions of the quality of green space near to where people live or visit 

   vi. Visit expenditure data. 

 

We mapped survey responses to these priorities using thematic analysis, with additional subthemes identified in the mapping process. 

 

We concluded that PaNS (England) and PaNSW (Wales) are largely identical and readily harmonisable across all themes. SPaNS (Scotland) is a slightly shorter survey covering all themes except ‘visit expenditure data’ and POMNI (Northern Ireland) is a significantly shorter survey which restricts comparability. Resource constraints within the organisations which deliver each survey drive significant differences in survey frequency, sample size, and data composition. The full report is available here and includes recommendations for increased collaboration between stakeholders in future, with initial communication facilitated by our work.