Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a new type of spatial plan for nature and environmental improvement. They are a legal requirement of the Environment Act 2021 and Worcestershire County Council has been appointed as the Responsible Authority to lead the preparation of Worcestershire’s LNRS, supported by the six District Councils and Natural England.

Each LNRS will contain a locally agreed Statement of Biodiversity Priorities and a Local Habitat Map. Once adopted, the LNRS will be a way for anyone to view the agreed nature recovery priorities in a location and determine what practical action could be appropriate for them to deliver.

There are several aspects of LNRS that might be relevant to businesses:

• For those that engage with the local plan-making process, the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 establishes that plans must now take account of any adopted LNRS that relates to the area, including when seeking to allocate land or sites for particular types of activity.
• Businesses applying for planning permission will need to establish if the new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) mandate will apply to their proposal. The Environment Act confirmed that BNG will be a key mechanism for delivering LNRS measures, with the Local Habitat Map informing the biodiversity ‘value’ that a site has or could achieve via use of a strategic significance weighting. Aligning BNG proposals with the relevant LNRS will have a greater benefit for nature, and land prioritised within the LNRS may be more attractive to developers seeking to purchase Biodiversity Units to off-set BNG.
• Finally, any business seeking grant funding to carry out nature or environmental improvements or land management operations, especially from Government sources, may be expected to demonstrate how their proposal will contribute to delivery of LNRS measures.

The first round of public consultation on the Worcestershire LNRS preparation process will be an Issues and Options Consultation. This will run for 6 weeks from Monday 15^th January to Friday 23^rd February 2024. The consultation will include a draft Local Habitat Map and will ask for views on the potential opportunities for nature recovery that exist within Worcestershire. A second round of public consultation on a full Draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy will follow in late Summer/Autumn, with adoption of the strategy anticipated in March 2025.

The county’s LNRS will be one of 48 across England and a key pillar in the delivery of a national Nature Recovery Network of sites where habitat and species conservation measures are targeted.

The potential for Worcestershire to contribute to this Nature Recovery Network is vast, with our nationally important wildflower meadows, traditional orchards, ancient woodlands and trees, and floodplain habitats such as wet grassland, fen, marsh and wet woodland. Equally important are the valuable pockets of nature-rich habitat within our towns and villages, where people can see, hear and experience nature on their doorstep.

Consultation documents can be found at www.worcestershire.gov.uk/lnrs and the project team can be contacted on lnrs@worcestershire.gov.uk.