Against a backdrop of declining biodiversity, English Nature has developed a biogeographic framework – Natural Areas – to help deliver a sustainable future for habitats and their species. This chapter provides an analysis of why Natural Areas were developed, how this was done and how the framework has been used by English Nature and others. The Natural Areas concept is not static, it continues to evolve and is helping to shape thinking on the integration of land use within the countryside. The story of Natural Areas should therefore be seen as part of a continuing saga whose final chapter has still to be written, but will hopefully tell of a more sustainable countryside in the future where people live in better balance with the natural environment.