According to the Guardian, many protected landscapes owned by English water firms in disrepair, with Figures revealing just 16% of company-controlled sites of special scientific interest are in good condition.

New data on the MLG shows some landowners have fallen behind; in addition to water companies, only 14.6% of SSSIs belonging to national park authorities are in a good state, according to the April 2024 figures.

Some landowners are doing rather better in managing their SSSIs: 80.8% of sites owned by the Environment Agency and 57.7% of those run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds are deemed to be in favourable condition.

A Water UK spokesperson said: “According to Natural England data, 85% of water company-owned SSSIs are in favourable or recovering condition. This is comparable with other major landowners.”

Data on designated sites is held by Natural England and can be found here