1. Who is funding the preparation of Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is providing funding to support the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies. Producing a strategy for nature and wider environmental benefits.
2. How will the Local Nature Recovery Strategy consider previous environmental strategies and how will it differ from them?
This is the first time there has been a coordinated requirement across the country to produce a strategy for nature and wider environmental benefits. This includes a requirement for extensive stakeholder engagement and public consultation prior to its agreement. The Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) will offer a shared approach to improving and restoring nature, while considering natures other benefits and what local people value.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategies will build on the many initiatives that have come before and the knowledge and expertise of many of those involved in them, but it does have some differences. Every part of the country will have Local Nature Recovery Strategies, so it will introduce some consistency of approach in nature recovery. While focusing on biodiversity, the Local Nature Recovery Strategies will also look at other environmental benefits like controlling flood risk and climate change. It will also look at the broader benefits like health and wellbeing. The Local Nature Recovery Strategies will also be a highly collaborative product, with input from a wide range of people and organisations.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategies will also link into other policy areas such as Environment Land Management Schemes (ELMS) and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). The Local Nature Recovery Strategies will highlight the best places for nature improvement, helping to decide where funding should be directed for the most impact.
3. How does the Local Nature Recovery Strategy link to planning?
Under The Environment Act, local planning authorities now have a strengthened biodiversity duty. This means that as part of their statutory role, planners must now consider how they can both conserve and enhance biodiversity.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies will help by identifying areas in their district of particular importance for biodiversity. They will also highlight areas that could become important in the future due to their potential to support habitats, species or nature-based solutions. This information will guide local planning authorities in making decisions that affect nature.
In addition to the enhanced Biodiversity Duty, The Environment Act specifically states that public bodies, such as local planning authorities, have to ‘have regard to’ Local Nature Recovery Strategies in their decision-making.
Somerset’s Local Nature Recovery Strategies will help shape local plans by showing which areas are important for biodiversity and where to invest in nature or nature-based solutions. These solutions can address problems such as flood risk, water quality and access to nature. The LNRS will help local plans follow the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which requires the protection and enhancement of biodiversity.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the planning system have been designed to fit together. Exact guidance is still being developed, but we know that the Local Nature Recovery Strategies will show where offsite Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) should be implemented by the planning system and where there will be incentives to do so. Local Nature Recovery Strategies were created to be the targeting system for offsite habitat creation and improvement to meet new Biodiversity Net Gain requirements. Local Nature Recovery Strategies will not say where offsite gain must happen. Instead, delivery in locations proposed by the Local Nature Recovery Strategies will be incentivised by the biodiversity metric.
We also expect the Local Nature Recovery Strategies will be an excellent evidence base for the local plan. They will show where new habitats should be created, especially in areas that are important for both nature and people but are not currently protected. These areas should be safeguarded against development, and ecosystem services should be provided near new developments.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act is making changes to the planning system which will lead to government updating the National Planning Policy Framework. It is likely that these updates will include more specific information on how Local Nature Recovery Strategies should be given weight in the plan-making process.
4. How does the Local Nature Recovery Strategy link to planning?
The statutory guidance states that the Local Nature Recovery Strategies must ‘identify the existing or potential species (or groups of species) in the area that the strategy could make a particular contribution to enhancing or recovering.’ A Species Task and Finish Group has been supporting the Somerset Local Nature Recovery Strategies by following Defra’s advice and has created a priority list of species to focus on.
5. What does it mean for land identified in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
Local Nature Recovery Strategies will identify areas that are currently designated for nature conservation (such as nature reserves) and irreplaceable habitats (‘areas of particular importance for biodiversity’). They will also identify areas to focus funding and efforts going forwards to achieve our agreed priorities for nature (‘areas that could become of particular importance’). These areas will all be depicted on the Local Nature Recovery Strategies map, known as the ‘local habitat map’.
‘Areas of particular importance for biodiversity’ will map where the best opportunities to expand, recover or join up nature, and where this provides wider environmental benefits. Areas that could become of particular importance will be identified through the Local Nature Recovery Strategies process using a range of inputs, including feedback from stakeholder engagement.
These areas will indicate where action should be focused to make the greatest impact and will help inform decisions on land management. It is important to know that the Local Nature Recovery Strategy does not provide any protection, stop other uses of the land, or allow habitat creation or land use changes without consulting experts, statutory consultees, or getting the right permissions.
6. How does the Local Nature Recovery Strategy fit with existing Agri-schemes and incentives?
Biodiversity Net Gain
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy maps will highlight areas in communities where nature recovery will be most effective and suggest the most appropriate actions to deliver. The Local Nature Recovery Strategy maps determine the Local Nature Recovery Strategy ‘strategic significance’ multiplier within the biodiversity metric. Through this, developers will be incentivised to target delivery of offsite Biodiversity Net Gain in areas identified within the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. The Local Nature Recovery Strategy maps can help identify the best habitats to be created in those areas. If you want to use your land to sell biodiversity units, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy maps can support you with decisions around which habitats are most suitable.
Agri-environment schemes or Countryside Stewardship
Our understanding from the government is that involvement from landowners and managers in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy could lead to ideas for entering into agreements. There is a good link with Landscape Recovery, and we believe further links with these schemes are to be developed in more detail by Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. We will keep you informed on this as more information emerges from Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
Investment in natural capital
Local Nature Recovery Strategy can help to identify local ambitions for nature-based solutions which can help to address issues such as water quality, flooding, carbon storage or access to nature. It will do this by identifying priority areas for trees, wetlands and other key habitats which can play a useful role in providing these wide benefits and could then be funded by public or private investment.
7. I am already involved in a nature recovery initiative or scheme. Does the Local Nature Recovery Strategy replace those?
No. There are lots of great nature recovery initiatives already active in Somerset, including farmer clusters, Landscape Recovery Schemes, and the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) scheme to name just a few, and we do not want to stall, stop or hamper their progress.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy may incorporate what is being done or is being considered in these other initiatives or schemes, and may even look for ways to expand them or connect them to others.
Not all local initiatives may be included in the Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Somerset. This depends on the priorities identified and agreed upon during the strategy process.
8. How does Local Nature Recovery Strategy fit with Environment Land Management Schemes?
Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Environment Land Management Schemes share an overarching goal. This is to improve our natural environment and build resilience into our landscapes for nature, people and planet.
While there is as yet no specific link to Environment Land Management Schemes, Local Nature Recovery Strategies will help direct future efforts and funding into areas where actions will have the most benefit for nature. Once up and running, we expect Local Nature Recovery Strategy to inform future funding opportunities from a range of public and private sources.
Taking part in your Local Nature Recovery Strategy is an opportunity to help influence this process. And to do it collaboratively with local stakeholders and decision makers across sectors and districts. After working together to identify priority areas for action, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy will be a helpful resource for land managers. It can be used as guide to funding applications, especially for projects that focus on specific areas, like Landscape Recovery projects.
As Local Nature Recovery Strategies come online across England, the government will explore how to align funding initiatives and the strategies. For example, by considering how projects can support Local Nature Recovery Strategy delivery.
Where possible we will also look to align the language used in the Somerset Local Nature Recovery Strategy with that used in Environment Land Management Schemes so that any links to funding are as clear as possible.
9. What will the Local Nature Recovery Strategy not do?
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy does not look to take agricultural land out of food production, it is about finding where food production and nature can work hand in hand.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy will not dictate to farmers what they can do with their land. It will be a guide and not a prescription.
In some cases, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy may highlight landscape-scale opportunities for nature recovery. Where this happens, landowners will not be forced to implement the recommendations but may choose to explore funding to deliver on these opportunities with their neighbours.
It will not replace farm visits, good site surveys and project planning, as it is intended as a strategic tool.
10. How binding on landowners and managers will the Local Nature Recovery Strategy be?
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy process aims to include as many local stakeholders as possible. Priorities will then be decided collectively for nature’s recovery in the county. Potential actions on how to deliver the priorities will then be identified along with where this would be most beneficial.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy process aims to involve as many local stakeholders as possible. Together, priorities will be set for nature’s recovery across the county and will help to identify the best actions to take and where they would be most beneficial.
These actions need to be realistic and achievable. We are asking Somerset landowners and land managers to share the opportunities they see on their land. We will work with them to understand how these opportunities can be delivered and supported through action and funding.
While the actions captured in our Local Nature Recovery Strategy will be practical and have been identified and shaped by those who manage the land, they won’t be mandatory. Rather, they will help to direct funding and effort where these will help to deliver priorities. Landowners can also opt out of appearing on final maps, both during the process and in the final public consultation phase.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies will also be reviewed every 5 or so years in order to revisit priorities and proposed actions to ensure they remain achievable and ambitious. This first Local Nature Recovery Strategy is therefore just the start of an ongoing process of collaboration with landowners to identify and adjust priorities for nature as time goes on.
11. How does Local Nature Recovery Strategy work for tenants?
It is up to the tenant and their landlord to decide if you would like to put any of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and opportunity map’s suggestions in place.
Tenant farmers, like landowners, are already doing a lot for nature in Somerset. Those who work the land also have the best understanding of what opportunities exist to improve, maintain or create habitats and support key species in their vicinity.
Taking action for nature can be difficult for tenants due to the contractual nature of their tenancy agreements. However, this is being recognised by government. Recent changes to Sustainable Farming Incentive include enabling tenants to apply without landlord consent and to sign up to shorter, three-year agreements which can be ended without penalty.
So, in Somerset we want tenants to be part of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy process and to help identify how they can play a role. This is the first iteration of Local Nature Recovery Strategy so we will learn as we go about the experience for tenants; it may be the case that future versions of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy will provide even more opportunity for tenants to get involved.
12. I want to help nature but would like to do something other than described on the mapping. Is that fine?
Of course. The strategy and mapping will be a suggestion of how to aid nature most effectively in that area based on evidence, and is a guide for landowner choice, not a prescription. If you have something different in mind that is fine, although it is important to think about whether what you plan to do is counterproductive. For example, you are not looking to plant woodland where heathland would be the most nature friendly solution. If you are unsure, please speak to your farm advisor for guidance.
Also, you do not have to stick to the mapped areas; anywhere you can provide nature friendly areas on your farm is a bonus to wildlife.
13. I have heard about creating a cluster of farms to join together and help nature on a larger scale. What are the benefits of this?
Farm clusters are a great way of bringing about larger scale projects that can be financially beneficial to farmers and really help nature. They are also a great way to bring farmers together socially and improve mental health within the farming community.