Yorkshire's natural heritage covers a wide range of topics, from how the rivers and hills were formed by geological processes such as plate tectonics and glaciation, to the wide range of animals and plants that find a home in your neighbourhood.

Here we are focusing on water, wildlife, plants and trees that make up our natural environment. We need them to survive. Wildlife and plants are important for the food chain and trees help remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.

Some features of the natural heritage have been or are being influenced by humans and throughout the industrial revolution many species became threatened with extinction because their habitats were damaged or destroyed by development and pollution. Strict controls on what could be done came into force in the middle of the last century, and following the decline of heavy industry at the end of the 20th century, improvements to water and air quality are helping some species to thrive again.

Birds, fish, mammals and insects, and the places that they live, need to be protected so that they can be enjoyed by us and future generations.

Information on the Natural Heritage webpages is mainly relating to the natural environment around water.