Challenges of delivering and developing a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)

Following the delivery of a successful webinar produced in collaboration between Biological Recording Company and Map Impact, this is the final part in a 3-part blog series providing a straightforward understanding of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS). We are grateful to Megan Lindeman, Technical Support Officer from Westmorland and Furness Council, and Francis Castro of Greater London Authority, who participated in the webinar as impartial guest speakers.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) comprise of a list of priorities and measures for nature recovery and a map outlining where these opportunities exist within the LNRS area. Without high quality mapping and accurate data for each habitat within the LNRS area, the written document cannot be not an effective tool for enacting nature recovery. Both elements should be prepared concurrently and be closely connected for the best outcomes.

The responsible authorities covering the 48 LNRS areas of England must produce their Local Nature Recovery Strategy by March 2025. The LNRS can be a valuable tool for future work around improvements to biodiversity but producing a useful and functional LNRS is a complex process. There will be challenges unique to each region, depending on the variety and size of the included habitats and what information has already been gathered, and there are also more general challenges which most, if not all, of the LNRS responsible authorities will have to overcome.

One of the big challenges is aligning priorities. Westmorland and Furness Council are producing the current Cumbria LNRS. Megan Lindeman, who is Technical Support Officer from Westmorland and Furness Council and was an impartial speaker at the recent Biological Recording Company webinar, explains their focus going forward “Prioritisation is key. The LNRS cannot do everything so it’s about picking those priorities for the next 3-10 years which will be the primary focus until the LNRS is reviewed and updated.” Effective mapping and assessment of existing habitats, and visualisation of how these compare to the surrounding sites, will help responsible authorities to identify where there is the greatest opportunity for nature recovery.

Francis Castro is a biodiversity specialist at the Greater London Authority and is part of the team putting together the LNRS for London. One of the challenges he is facing is how this LNRS can add value and fit in with existing policies and guidance. “In London we’ve got a range of different strategies. These aren’t going to change so one of the things that we had to consider when this dropped was how does LNRS work here.” Having data which aligns to existing metrics contributes to a better understanding of how LNRS priorities will align with established strategies and makes this process simpler.

Size and diversity of habitats is a challenge for many LNRS areas, Megan explains that in Cumbria “We’ve got a whole range of habitats from open coastline to estuarine to high fells. Even our upland habitats in themselves are very different characters. And then we’ve got the productive Eden Valley, we’ve got large amounts of woodland. We’ve got it all which is great, but it also makes it very complicated.”

Map Impact’s BiodiversityView provides a unique national dataset of assessed habitat conditions across the whole of England at 50m intervals.  It is ideally suited to provide regional coverage of landscape areas, such as required by LNRS work, or early baseline site assessments required under BNG development planning requirements, where ‘triage, triage, triage’ is the best practice message coming from Natural England and the Planning Advisory Service.

Local Authority teams are welcome to request a demonstration of BiodiversityView across their own specific area by e-mailing info@mapimpact.io.