Delivering nature recovery through local action

The last few years have been a period of policy change, with the implementation of new nature and biodiversity duties for local government in the Environment Act of 2021, and change at national level including the creation of a new Office for Environmental Protection. 

Many of the new environmental duties for local government are still in the implementation phase, with councils and partners working through some of the complex changes and culture change that will be needed, such as the mandatory requirement for new development to add to biodiversity. It is important to recognise that this is work in progress, and build in time to review the legal and regulatory framework, as well as making a full assessment of the impact on local authority resources. 

The LGA’s White Paper for local government sets out the case for a new approach to maximise the value of place by allowing more local variation, not less. To achieve this we need devolution that transfers powers to communities, which recognises that local authorities and their leaders are best placed to make decisions for their places, combined with sufficient funding so that they can deliver local priorities; only then can councils deliver on this crucial place shaping role.

Councils are working on Local Nature Recovery Strategies, which have the potential to be the driving force for determining delivery across an area across all national, regional and local policy. Local Nature Recovery Strategies need the teeth to shape all public environment spending in places, and review powers they hold to lead nature-based adaptation action, from managing floods to droughts.

The LGA will be taking work on local nature recovery forward as part of our programme of work on the White Paper for Local Government, building on the five priorities for change:

• An equal, respectful partnership between local and national government – a genuine partnership model backed by statute, based on best international practice.
• Sufficient and sustainable funding – with multi-year settlements and combined funding pots so that local services can develop and transform.
• Backing local government as place leaders – with new powers to bring partners together to get services working better, drive inclusive growth and regulate failing markets. 
• A new focus on prevention and services for the wider community – joint action with the NHS to keep people well from birth to later life, alongside action on housing and homelessness. 
• Innovation and freedom from bureaucracy – ending bureaucratic reporting and exploiting the full potential of technology including AI.

In their report “Powers in Place: Nature” from September 2023, UK100 diagnosed five critical challenges for local government that are holding up implementation and hampering their ability to create long lasting change:

• Nature protection and enhancement is not given the weight in decisions that it should be, and other forms of development are often prioritised.
• Lack of clear, coherent and connected national policies is compounded by a complexity of responsibilities at the local level and across different organisations.
• Local authorities simply do not have the capacity, capability and often skills to stand up for nature or plan it into their services.
• Insufficient funding provided through competitive bids for the short-term hampers effective planning.
• Lack of a whole-systems approach leading to an inability to prevent the cumulative impacts of development on habitats and species.

UK100’s recommendations for supporting nature recovery are:

Consistency for nature: Government should roll out clear, coherent and connected policies and financial incentives to provide a strong investment case for developers, landowners and farmers to prioritise nature recovery alongside cutting emissions. UK100 and the LGA align in recommending that the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) should guide biodiversity and environmental land management schemes. Local authorities should have a clear governance role. This must be underpinned by robust, consistent data, which is locally relevant, accessible and properly resourced.

Priority for Nature: Nature recovery needs to be as strong in the implementation as it is in the duties, targets and strategies. National and local delivery policies need to strengthen the weight given to nature protection in the planning system, and throughout all other policy and spending areas. Alongside this, strong local political and corporate leadership to prioritise the Biodiversity Duty by Elected Members and Senior Directors can and should empower and support officers in delivering Nature Recovery.

Funding for Nature: Fully fund Nature Recovery delivery capacity in lead local authorities for LNRS, and district councils responsible for implementing Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), including expansion of staff teams with long-term funding, and investment in training programmes on Nature Recovery for all local authority staff and elected Members.

There is a steep learning curve for councils and local partners before they can realise this vision. A study by the RTPI in February 2024 found that 41 per cent of public sector planners were not able to confirm whether they would have access to the necessary ecological expertise to comply with the new BNG requirements. This has not been helped by uncertainty over funding for local government, particularly for support for biodiversity net gain in the longer term. 

Throughout the development of the biodiversity net gain policy, the LGA has called for central government to give local government the full picture of environmental reform policy and be equal partners in the development of funding mechanisms such as the Environmental Land Management Scheme.

Future solutions will need to pull private finance into nature recovery. Market mechanisms have already been introducing into environmental improvement, with local authorities either leading or expected to play a significant role in delivery. For example:

• Nutrient neutrality credit systems fund environmental improvements such as the creation of wetlands or green spaces through the sale of credits to developers, such as the Solent nutrient mitigation schemes, co-ordinated across local authority areas by the Partnership for South Hampshire. 
• The biodiversity net gain offsite market will provide a mechanism for developers to meet their responsibility for adding biodiversity where this is not possible on the site being developed. This in an early stage of development, but there is potential for councils to offer their own land and direct investment to important local priorities.

Councils, as the local leaders of place, could become the focus point for attracting investment into nature and biodiversity, directing funding from public and private investment to meet the needs of local areas, and plug the gap for communities where access to nature is poor. 

Duty to produce a Local Nature Recovery Strategy

Responsible Authorities (Combined Authorities, County Councils and Unitaries) will have to prepare Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS). The list of the 48 responsible bodies in England was published in June 2023, following guidance on what to include in the strategy. These will include a list of priority opportunities for habitat creation, improvement and restoration. It will also have a local habitat map which contains existing nature sites and habitats, and locations of the priorities for future habitat creation, improvement and restoration.

Mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain in Planning

The Environment Act 2021 states that all planning permissions granted in England (with a few exemptions) will have to deliver at least 10 per cent biodiversity net gain. Implementation for large sites came into effect in February 2024, delayed from the original date of November. BNG became mandatory for small sites in April 2024. 

Biodiversity Duty

The Environment Act 2021 strengthens local authorities’ duty to conserve and enhance biodiversity, first set out in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act of 2006. 

Local authorities (excluding parish councils) and local planning authorities must publish a biodiversity report. Other public authorities do not need to publish a report but must fulfil their biodiversity duty

The end date of the first reporting period should be no later than 1 January 2026, and reports must be published within 12 weeks of the reporting period end date

After this, the end date of each reporting period must be within five years of the end date of the previous reporting period.

Defra has provided a sample report structure, but councils can choose how to set out the required information however they choose.

The Planning Advisory Service is proving support and advice to councils on biodiversity net gain, nature recovery and nutrient neutrality. Details of events and practitioner networks are available on the PAS website. 

The LGA’s sustainability hub provides a range of resources to help councils address environmental sustainability including a section on taking action on the environment with council case studies and tools including biodiversity e-learning for councils