As the global demand for digital infrastructure rises, large tracts of land across the United Kingdom and beyond are being permanently altered to accommodate data centres. These facilities, critical for everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, are often celebrated as signs of technological advancement. But this rapid expansion comes at a cost that is less visible and less discussed: the long-term degradation of land, the loss of biodiversity, and the erosion of the land’s ability to sustain farming and natural ecosystems.

Once land is converted into a data centre site, the change is virtually irreversible. Data centres typically require extensive concrete foundations, impermeable surfaces, industrial security fencing, and dedicated power infrastructure. These installations do not just occupy space; they fundamentally alter the composition and function of the land.

According to the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), soil sealing: the covering of soil with an impermeable material, is one of the most damaging forms of land-use change. It disrupts natural drainage, increases the risk of surface flooding, and renders the soil biologically inactive. Even long after a data centre is decommissioned, restoring the land to a productive or ecologically viable state can be almost impossible without significant, costly remediation (UKCEH, 2023).

One of the least understood consequences of data centre expansion is the impact on local biodiversity. Before construction, many proposed data centre sites are grasslands, arable land, or buffer zones that support pollinators, birds, and small mammals. The transition from a semi-natural or agricultural landscape to an industrial site removes habitats and interrupts ecological networks.

Species that rely on hedgerows, open fields, or seasonal wetlands are particularly affected. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) stresses that these habitats play a crucial role in maintaining insect populations, which in turn support crop pollination and pest control (RSPB, 2021). Once lost, these ecosystem services are difficult to replace, and their decline undermines both natural systems and food production.

Resilience in land use refers to the ability of an area to adapt to environmental stress, such as drought, flooding, and shifting climate patterns. Healthy farmland, particularly when managed through regenerative practices, can recover from such shocks. It absorbs carbon, retains water, and sustains a diversity of plant and animal life.

In contrast, data centres are static. They are engineered for durability, not flexibility. Their energy-intensive operation often requires auxiliary infrastructure, such as cooling systems and diesel backup generators, which further degrade surrounding ecosystems. As climate volatility increases, the presence of such inflexible infrastructure reduces the overall adaptability of a region.

The Thames Valley and parts of Greater London have seen a surge in data centre proposals, leading to growing competition for land, water, and electricity. The Guardian reported in 2024 that some local councils have halted housing and renewable energy projects due to grid capacity being consumed almost entirely by data centres (The Guardian, 2024). This not only blocks more sustainable uses of the land but creates a feedback loop of vulnerability and dependency.

The pressure on farmland is intensifying. England alone lost nearly 33,000 hectares of agricultural land to development between 2010 and 2020 (CPRE, 2022). Much of this loss has occurred on the peripheries of cities and towns — areas that are attractive for data centres due to proximity to high-speed networks and energy infrastructure.

Farmers are now competing with multinational tech firms for access to land and grid connectivity. According to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), a growing number of farmers are being denied or delayed access to electricity connections for installing renewable energy systems on their land because priority is being given to data infrastructure (NFU, 2023). This delays the transition to more sustainable agricultural systems and disincentivises investment in rural areas.

More alarmingly, farmland lost to data centres is almost never replaced. Unlike housing, which can be accommodated through densification, or industry, which can relocate to brownfield sites, farming needs good-quality soil and access to water, both of which are compromised once the land is paved over or sealed off for data infrastructure.

Recognising the challenges posed by unchecked data centre expansion, some governments are starting to respond. However, policy is still in its infancy and often lags behind the speed of development.

In the UK, planning policy for data centres is largely decentralised, with local councils determining land use. While the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) offers guidance on protecting green belt and agricultural land, it does not yet contain explicit regulations for the siting of data centres or their cumulative environmental impact.

However, the government has acknowledged the growing strain on energy infrastructure. In 2023, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero initiated a review into the electricity grid’s future needs, with an eye on balancing industrial demand with residential and agricultural needs. Some local authorities, such as in Hertfordshire and Berkshire, have proposed temporary moratoriums on new data centre applications until environmental reviews are completed.

In 2024, a cross-party group of MPs also called for greater transparency in land acquisition and for biodiversity offsetting schemes to be strengthened to include data infrastructure. This is a step in the right direction, but critics argue it remains too voluntary to be effective.

The EU has taken more proactive steps. The European Commission’s Green Deal and Digital Decade strategy set targets for the environmental sustainability of digital infrastructure. From 2025, all new large data centres in the EU will be required to publish their energy and water consumption under the Energy Efficiency Directive.

The EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities also identifies land use and biodiversity impact as key assessment areas. This means that investment in data centres that cause irreversible environmental damage may be excluded from sustainable finance streams. While not yet a ban, it sets financial and reputational pressure on developers to consider more responsible siting and construction practices.

In Singapore and Ireland, governments have implemented partial moratoriums on new data centre construction due to energy and land constraints. These policies are often linked to wider climate goals. In Singapore, for example, a new set of sustainability requirements was introduced in 2022 for data centre operators, including mandatory use of green building standards and limited water consumption.

The current piecemeal approach to data centre regulation is inadequate for the scale of environmental transformation taking place. If governments are serious about halting biodiversity decline and protecting food security, they must treat data infrastructure not as invisible architecture but as a significant land use that requires active regulation.

Key recommendations include:

National guidelines that prevent data centres from being built on high-value agricultural land or biodiversity-rich areas.
Mandatory environmental impact assessments that include land resilience, soil health, and biodiversity effects before any planning approval.
Restoration funds that ensure some form of ecological compensation when land is permanently converted.
Support for rural broadband and decentralised computing, which can reduce the need for mega-centres in sensitive regions.

Digital infrastructure may be virtual in its function, but it is intensely physical in its footprint. Each new data centre represents a permanent alteration of the land, with consequences that extend far beyond the perimeter fence. As data increasingly fuels modern life, we must ensure that its growth does not come at the expense of the very systems that sustain us — the soil beneath our feet, the food on our tables, and the biodiversity that holds our ecosystems together.

There is still time to chart a more balanced course, but only if land use planning, environmental policy, and digital strategy are brought into alignment.

Further Reading and Resources:

The Permanent Cost of Progress: How Data Centres Strip the Land of Biodiversity and Farming Potential

How Data Centres Are Devouring Our Planet While Farms Fight to Survive