Insights from local nature recovery strategy engagement
Effective nature strategies depend on the ability to integrate ecological science with stakeholder engagement. As land use planning and biodiversity conservation are shaped by overlapping or competing agendas – agriculture, housing, climate resilience and infrastructure – the imperative to involve a wide range of stakeholders in decision-making processes has gained traction in both research and policy.
Within this context, local nature recovery strategies (LNRS), introduced through the Environment Act 2021, represent a crucial development in England’s evolving biodiversity framework. Overseen by Natural England, LNRSs are spatial strategies that each of the 48 designated responsible authorities in England are required to produce. To support this process, the UK government allocated £14 million in funding, distributed to responsible authorities to cover the costs of preparing their LNRSs. They were required to:
- map existing areas important for nature
- identify local priorities for nature recovery
- propose actions to support the restoration of biodiversity at landscape scale.
These strategies form a cornerstone of the government’s ambition to halt the decline of species abundance by 2030. However, the success of LNRS delivery will depend not only on ecological rigour but also on local ‘ownership’ and integration into decision-making. While responsible authorities are legally obliged to produce a LNRS, there is no statutory duty to deliver its proposed actions. LNRSs do not dictate action; rather, they identify opportunities for action and provide a framework to guide and coordinate voluntary efforts.
There are incentives such as an uplift in the value of biodiversity units under biodiversity net gain (BNG) within LNRS mapped areas, and further incentives are likely to emerge. Nonetheless, delivery remains fundamentally voluntary. Recognising this, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) guidance stresses that strategies should be both evidence based and locally informed, developed through inclusive, transparent engagement with a broad range of stakeholders that go beyond the industry experts.
How do we decide what matters for nature recovery? Engagement methodologies in practice
Learn how local authorities and our experienced engagement practitioners transformed national guidance into credible, locally grounded processes. In this webinar led by Simon Garrett, Environment Engagement Lead at Nature Positive, he draws on our recent work supporting LNRS development across three counties. With a wealth of experience in stakeholder engagement, Simon shares powerful insights into the participatory methods used to broaden representation, build trust and co-create nature recovery strategies that truly reflect local priorities.
This webinar demonstrates how inclusive engagement can be delivered in practice, with everyone from ecology experts to members of the wider local population: from co-production approaches that combine local insight with ecological evidence, through semi-structured meetings with farmers and landowners, to informal outreach in parks, at county shows and in shopping centres, using techniques designed to bring wider public voices into the process. The webinar showcases practical tools such as anonymous digital polling and gamified landscape visioning.
It also reveals some of the broader findings: how much does the wider population understand about functioning natural landscapes and the competing demands on the use of finite land resources? And how much agreement is there across different stakeholder groups in envisioning what the future of urban and rural green spaces should be like?
With final strategies due, and only 5 of the 48 required published so far, this webinar offers a timely insight into how participatory nature planning is taking shape on the ground. It underscores how Nature Positive helps organisations move beyond surface-level consultation to embed stakeholder engagement as a strategic driver of sustainability.
Creating local nature recovery strategies – how do we know what the future ought to look like?
How can Nature Positive help?
This session highlights Nature Positive’s experience and expertise in engaging a wide range of stakeholders, utilising creative methods to facilitate meaningful outcomes.
Truly effective sustainability depends on people. It requires diverse voices to be heard, recognised and respected. Meaningful stakeholder engagement is not simply a tick-box exercise – it’s a vital component of due diligence and a foundation for creating climate, nature and social outcomes that are credible, inclusive and enduring.
As sustainability strategists, climate and biodiversity scientists, human rights specialists and behaviour change practitioners, we bring deep, cross-cutting expertise to help you design stakeholder processes that are not only compliant but also transformative.
Work with Nature Positive to embed meaningful engagement into your sustainability strategy and deliver impact that matters.
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This article was written by Joseph White, Graduate Consultant.
Image credit: Simon Garrett