Local Nature Recovery Strategy
About Local Nature Recovery Strategies
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are locally led collaborative strategies to drive nature's recovery and provide wider environmental improvements established by the Environment Act 2021. Each local nature recovery strategy will:
- agree priorities for nature’s recovery
- map the most valuable existing areas for nature
- map specific proposals for creating or improving habitat for nature and wider environmental goals
The primary purpose of our LNRS is to find locations for the creation, connection or improvement of habitat. It aims to identify the locations most likely to provide the greatest benefit for nature and the wider environment.
Our mapping team have produced a story map which provides a useful intro on the LNRS and explains how we have completed the first step, the Step 1 map, Lancashire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy (arcgis.com).
Ambition
Our ambition is to develop an effective nature recovery strategy for the people of Lancashire, that can be delivered on the ground, with local partners working together with landowners and managers and communities.
How to get involved
Since February 2024 we have been engaging with people across Lancashire to gather people's priorities, aspirations and concerns about Nature Recovery in our region to feed into the development of our Local Nature Recovery Strategy. We have done this through:
- The public engagement survey – to which we received 983 responses which is the most across England so far! Red squirrels, hedgehogs and trees and woodland being most important to the majority and the building on green and natural spaces and pollution of rivers, lakes and groundwater being of most concern for most of you.
- The interactive map which was developed in line with the survey and has been used to gather data over the summer will close imminently and will not available from that point. This data is now being fed into the Strategy mapping.
- The People and Nature Roadshows (Central and South, East, North and Wyre, Blackpool and Fylde) to ensure engagement with the Health, Education, VCFSE, Active Lifestyles and Community/Place-Based sectors.
- Engagement with landowners, land managers, farmers, Agriculture/ land management students etc through webinars, face to face workshops across the County and auction-mart 'drop-in's' speaking to 275 people.
In October we are also attending the Lancashire Youth Climate Conference to promote the LNRS and the Public Consultation with 16 – 19-year-olds, talk to them about barriers and opportunities and what they feel is most important for nature's recovery in their area.
You can still get in touch through the LNRS mailbox LNRS@lancashire.gov.uk.
We aim for the draft strategy to go out for public consultation. You will be able to contribute, comment and feedback on this in the first quarter of 2025.
Participation
Participation in developing these strategies is voluntary. The final opportunity maps are non-binding. There is no requirement to engage in nature recovery, however public body funding and private investment will be targeted towards areas identified to help landowners, managers and farmers deliver their local strategy and potentially provide an additional stream of revenue.
Contact details
Latest updates on our LNRS strategy update
The last 3 months have been busy holding workshops with our Habitat Groups which cover our important habitats across the County - Peatlands, Grasslands, Trees & Woodland, Coastal & Estuarine, Aquatic & Wetland, Rocky Habitats and Urban and land allocated for development, as well as our species specialists and our Supporting Authorities. With their input together with all the feedback we have received during engagement (summarised above), we have drawn together our shortlist of "Priorities"; what we want the strategy to work to achieve over the next 5 to 10 years, and our "Potential Measures"; the practical actions that, if taken, would make positive contributions to delivering those priorities for Lancashire for the benefit of our most important species the wider natural environment.
Using those Priorities and Measures we are now busy working with colleagues to draft our strategy document and Local Habitat Map which will map areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity for example by identifying areas to connect up important areas of grassland and woodland, restore habitats like peatland and create new habitats for species and people and nature including potential areas for carrying out those "measures/practical actions".
About Local Nature Recovery Strategies
The Defra Secretary of State has also produced regulations on the process for preparing, publishing, reviewing and republishing a Local Nature Recovery Strategy and statutory guidance on what each strategy should contain.
We are supported by our Local Authorities. In Lancashire, we have 16 Supporting Authorities:
- Blackpool unitary
- Blackburn with Darwen unitary
- Burnley district
- Chorley district
- Fylde district
- Hyndburn district
- Lancaster district
- Natural England
- Pendle district
- Preston district
- Ribble Valley district
- Rossendale district
- South Ribble district
- West Lancashire district
- Wyre district
- Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
We are also supported by other key partners and stakeholders including public bodies such as Natural England, the Forestry Commission, the Environment Agency and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), in addition to environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (eNGOs) for example the Wildlife Trusts, Rivers Trusts and National Trust.
We are actively collaborating with the supporting authorities throughout the development of the LNRS.
We have set up specialist groups for Habitats and Species, Land Management and mapping, data and evidence made up of key representatives from a wide variety of stakeholders. These groups help to engage and raise awareness across the sector and will feed directly into the strategy.
When LNRS need will to be completed
We began wider engagement and public consultation for Lancashire stakeholders in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy in February 2024. The aim is that the draft strategy will go out for public consultation in the first quarter of 2025 and be published around the Summer of 2025.
The key stages in the LNRS development
To view a summary of the process behind the LNRS you can view the Statutory Guidance. Please note, that Step 2 is for when the strategy is re-viewed and republished and will map areas where nature recovery action has taken place.
The Step 1 Map – Area is of Particular Importance for Biodiversity was published to coincide with Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) becoming mandatory for major developments.
Throughout March and April 2024 we have developed Step 3 which involved engagement with the habitat and species specialists and land managers to understand and describe the most important habitats and species in Lancashire and what the opportunities for recovery might be. The groups had the opportunity to review and comment on each other's opportunities and constraints to highlight potential conflicts early on.
Throughout the summer we have developed Step 4 where we have collaboratively agreed on the priorities and potential measures/practical actions for nature recovery in Lancashire and these will inform the Local Habitat Map and the Statement of Biodiversity Priorities.
A number of these measures/practical actions are overarching across the whole strategy such as invasive species control and reducing nutrient pollution; or are supporting actions that will need to be carried out alongside the potential measures that although not strictly within the remit of the LNRS, are necessary for Nature Recovery to succeed, such as gathering data and evidence and carrying out education and engagement. Others will be mappable and so target areas for actions spatially across the County and have the potential to direct investment such as BNG.
The Species group have pulled together species lists for Lancashire's most important species, identifying those which the LNRS can best support through habitat-based measures/practical actions for example by connecting species rich grasslands and through sensitive habitat management; as well as identifying those most important 'stand-alone' species, where specific, individual recovery measures are needed.
Writing the strategy and creating the Local Habitat Map will continue over the next 3 months with ongoing input from the our Steering Group including our Supporting Authorities.