Summer should be a time full of the sights and sounds of wildlife thriving: butterflies and bees flying between wildflowers, chirping crickets, swooping swallows and reptiles basking in the sun.

But nature is in trouble.

This summer scene is becoming rarer, and the latest progress report on the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan shows little-to-no change in the status of nature and, in some cases, further deterioration.

Last month, Oxfordshire County Council was named as the ‘responsible authority’ for a new Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

It will receive a share of £14 million Government funding and gain ultimate control of a plan to try and restore nature across the entire county.

So what are Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and can they really help?

A new hope

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) were created by the Environment Act 2021.

They came after a study led by the Natural History Museum in London concluded that the UK was one of the most ‘nature-depleted countries’ on the planet in terms of number of species and populations lost since the Industrial Revolution.

The goal of LNRSs is not just to conserve what already exists but to restore, increase, and reconnect nature in 48 strategy areas across England.

To ensure the approach is tailored to the area, each LNRS must include a local habitat map and a statement of biodiversity priorities which are encouraged to be ambitious yet achievable.

The preparation of each LNRS is led by the responsible authority, such as a county council, but involves a range of other organisations such as landowners, farmers, the Environment Agency, community groups and environmental charities such as BBOWT.

Why are LNRSs important?

Once in effect, each LNRS authority will use its plan to guide decision-making on where to spend money for nature, based on where it can be most effective.

Council’s Local Plans for development will need to refer to their LNRS to inform planning decisions to protect and enhance biodiversity.

From November, they will have another role when the Government’s new Biodiversity Net Gain strategy becomes law: under this legislation, developers will be required to replace any biodiversity they destroy (such as woodland or meadows) plus an extra 10 per cent, either on-site or nearby. Each LNRS will offer guidance on where this work can have the best effect.

The plans will also enable farmers and landowners to work together across larger areas and join up their work to have greater impact and improve connectivity, helping to reverse habitat fragmentation.

Land managers who carry out nature recovery projects that meet LNRS objectives can also claim payments through the Government’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme which has replaced EU farmer funding.

As well as helping wildlife, LNRSs also create opportunities for nature-based solutions to climate change, flooding, and drought by identifying and enhancing habitats that store significant amounts of carbon and water such as peat bogs and floodplain meadows.

How is BBOWT involved?

BBOWT has been involved in the LNRS scheme since DEFRA's pilot project in 2021 when we helped create one of the first five strategies in Buckinghamshire.

Now we are on the steering groups for LNRSs being developed by Oxfordshire County Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire.

It was also in 2021 that we launched our Nature Recovery Network: a detailed map of all the land in our three counties identifying areas of high value for wildlife. This will help us contribute to the essential local habitat map stage of the new LNRSs.

There are, of course, criticisms of the LNRS scheme: for example, some have said that the requirements they impose on local planning authorities are not strict enough - however, overall the strategy has been welcomed by many as capable of making a huge difference to the quality and scale of biodiversity across the UK.

Find out more about how we are helping wildlife on a landscape scale: