GovWire

The People and Nature Surveys (PaNS) are official statistics about how children and adults in England interact with and benefit from the natural environment. The project collects data from a survey of adults (aged 16 and over) and a survey of children (aged 8 to 15).

Data from the surveys helps users understand:

• how people use and enjoy the natural environment
• how spending time in nature can affect physical and mental health
• what motivates people to protect the natural environment, and what they do to take care of it, at home, in the garden and in the wider community
• how different groups of people interact with nature, and how activity and attitudes change over time

PaNS informs government policy-making on the environment. It helps government monitor delivery of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

Data from the adults survey contributes to the ONS UK Measures of National Well-being dashboard. The dashboard brings together the latest data from across government on how people in the UK are doing as individuals, communities, and as a nation.

How the surveys are run

The surveys are run online and the data collected according to nationally representative samples.

The adults survey samples up to 25,000 people in England aged 16 and over, every year. Data is collected every month to account for seasonal differences in responses. New data is released 4 times a year, alongside reports and analysis.

The children survey samples about 4,000 children in England aged 8 to 15, every year. Data is collected in 2 waves: one in the school summer holidays and one when schools have returned in September. This data is published once a year alongside an annual report.

Accessing the data

Natural England publishes data tables and analysis reports.

The Data Explorer tool allows users to access breakdowns of the data and gives information about sample sizes, weighted proportions and confidence intervals. Users can compare the results against different demographic groups.

The UK Data Service makes the raw data available for researchers to carry out their own analysis.

Official statistics

Statistics from PaNS are official statistics. This means that the quality of statistics complies with the standards and principles of official statistics.

Up until March 2021, monthly indicator releases were generated using interim weighting methods and labelled experimental statistics. These are a form of official statistics that are in the testing phase.

The Office for Statistics Regulation is currently reviewing PaNS with a view to upgrading the products to national statistics status.

Questionnaires and survey methodologies

For details of the survey questionnaires and the methodology, you can:

• download the People and Nature Survey for England questionnaires
• read the PaNS survey methods and technical details

Historic data sets

PaNS replaces the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) survey that ran from 2009 to 2019.

You can find:

• historic data from the MENE survey 2009 to 2019
• historic raw data on the UK data service

Find out more

You can:

• join the PaNS research community
• email people_and_nature@naturalengland.org.uk if you have any questions
• sign up for alerts when new statistics are published