Briefing note: Nature recovery - why bother?

Briefing Note: Nature recovery – why bother? 

What do the government's nature recovery reforms mean for you as a local authority?

What’s the problem?

Local authorities face unprecedented challenges, including spending cuts, economic uncertainty, climate change, welfare reform, youth unemployment, housing need and an aging population, which require a whole new way of thinking and delivering. Recovering or enhancing biodiversity does not just allow nature to thrive, it provides multiple benefits: sustaining and regenerating economies, creating jobs, increasing climate resilience and enhancing the health and wellbeing of residents and businesses.

The UK is bottom 10 per cent globally and worst G7 nation for biodiversity loss. Nature is key to mitigating and adapting to climate change and supporting health and well-being. 

What are the government's nature recovery reforms?

Tackling nature recovery needs to happen now at scale and the government has set out a range of new policies and funding mechanisms to enable delivery of a national Nature Recovery Network (NRN). These include a new system of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), agri-environment schemes, Biodiversity Net Gain together with wider environmental net gains and Green Infrastructure Standards.  The Governments Environmental Improvement Plan, published in January 2023, has an overarching goal to achieve ‘thriving plants and wildlife’ and reinforces the various targets and tools to accomplish this.

The Governments Environmental Improvement Plan includes key commitments to halt the decline of nature by 2030 and every household to be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or water.

What do these mean for local authorities?

England’s local authorities at all levels (county, unitary, districts, boroughs and combined authorities) are vital to driving nature recovery outcomes and the wide suite of benefits that flow to local communities from its recovery.  What is now needed is for local authorities and partners to effectively embed nature across all their functions and assets. The levers and approaches to achieve this are fortunately now many and varied. Whilst not all of them are statutory, there are now many other underlying targets and policy hooks such as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which refer to and promote their use. 

Statutory duties for local authorities include Local Nature Recovery Strategies, to help plan nature recovery and Biodiversity Net Gain, Species Conservation and Protected Site strategies and a strengthened biodiversity duty in the NERC Act.

Voluntary tools include Green Infrastructure Standards, ecosystem service provision from BNG (Environmental Benefits from Nature tool), Strategic Solutions, Landscape Character Assessments LCAs, Shared Nitrogen Action Plans and District Level Licensing and conservation covenants to help deliver nature recovery. 

What’s the opportunity for local authorities? 

There are a number of opportunities that implementing nature recovery activities offers local authorities to deliver a number of wider local authority goals. Getting more for less through delivering wider benefits for health, sustainable travel, flood resilience and others. Financial stability, with increased access to a range of nature recovery funding pots as well as potential income generation through green finance and investment such as BNG, selling carbon credits and ELMS. Potential for increased employment and volunteering opportunities to support delivery of projects. Increased reputation as a forward thinking local authority that is doing the best for its communities by delivering greener, healthier and more resilient communities.

Over half (57 per cent) of the annual value of ecosystem services in England in 2020 was derived from cultural services, predominantly recreation and tourism (£12.4 billion) and health benefits (£5.5 billion) associated with this (ONS 2023)

What’s the risk of doing nothing?

First and foremost you don’t deliver on your statutory duties or legislative standards and increased environmental risk to health, travel, flooding and others. There is insufficient public funding available to enhance nature and lack of business models to attract alternative sources. Increased costs through delivering traditional grey interventions and exposure to increased risks. A reputational risk as a local authority which hasn’t tackled the risks from climate change and environmental degradation. Increasingly people and businesses will not want to live and work in the area. Its also important to understand the risks of doing something and how these could affect future delivery for example changes to budgets and funding, political priorities, new policy and legislation and more.

There are costs of not acting. It is estimated that the health and social care costs of air pollution in England could reach £5.3 billion by 2035 unless action is taken. 

So, what should you be aiming for? 

In the short term, the focus should be on meeting what is legally is required particularly delivering LNRS, BNG and NERC duties and understanding how these link to core business.  Quick wins could include building nature into the procurement of products and services, changing maintenance regimes such as no mow and establishing a nature recovery commitment and nature recovery lead. In the longer term, the aim should be to adopt a clear and ambitious approach to nature recovery ensuring that corporate commitments take account of nature and how it can be used to support the delivery of wider benefits.

Whose already delivering on this?

There are lots of examples where local authorities are already embedding nature as part of their priorities and realising the benefits.

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority is developing innovative funding models, blending private and public‑sector funding opportunities through the Greater Manchester Environment Fund.
• Bath & North East Somerset Council declared climate and biodiversity emergencies in 2020 and established the role of a ‘Biodiversity Champion’ for an elected member emphasising the environment within the Corporate Strategy.
• Buckinghamshire Council’s cross-departmental working with ecology teams, legal departments and planning teams has helped prepare for mandatory biodiversity net gain.
• Hampshire County Council demonstrate the benefits of external‑partnerships for county-wide nature recovery. Sequestering carbon
• Plymouth City Council have set up an arm’s length, council-owned ‘Habitat Bank’.

Key questions to consider:

• What are your services key priorities and challenges?
• How can nature and the government’s nature recovery reforms help address these?
• What are the opportunities already being delivered?
• What’s worked well, what hasn’t worked well and how can the learning be replicated to other services?
• What could be improved and/or what more could you do?