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Nature Recovery

Statement made on 30 June 2023

Statement UIN HLWS886

Statement

Government is committed to delivering large scale, widespread nature recovery across England. We depend on nature for everything – from food, water, and resources to the places we go when we need to relax and recharge - but over the last century, the state of nature in our country has declined dramatically.

Our Environmental Improvement Plan, published in January 2023, set out how we will continue to help nature to recover and thrive. We committed to do more to restore the vital habitats that support a huge variety of species, which will help us deliver the ambitious biodiversity targets we have set under the Environment Act 2021.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies will be key to our drive to restore nature. The forty-eight responsible authorities, announced today, will lead on the preparation of localised, tailored strategies to support and recover nature, using the best of local expertise in the community. These Responsible Authorities, supported by £14 million government funding, will now begin to engage across their areas to prepare the strategies, working closely with landowners, farmers and land managers. Regulations and statutory guidance setting out the process responsible authorities must follow and what they should include in the strategies were published in March 2023. Delivery of the proposals set out in a local nature recovery strategy will not be directly required but will instead be encouraged by a combination of financial incentives, the support of local delivery partners and broad requirements on public bodies.

Alongside Local Nature Recovery Strategies, which will support long term planning for nature, the first round of the Species Survival Fund opens today with an initial £25 million available to projects that will help drive the action we need to halt the decline in species.

Taken hand in hand, the Species Survival Fund and Local Nature Recovery Strategies provide opportunities, both in the shorter and longer term, for new and innovative projects to make a real difference, so that communities across England can contribute to nature recovery.

This Government is proud of its extensive record on nature & climate. These measures are the latest of many to protect the environment. In just the last six months, we have:

- Set legally binding targets to protect our environment, clean up our air and rivers and boost nature.

- Announced our Environmental Improvement Plan which sets out delivery plan for building a greener, more prosperous country.

- Announced nearly £30 million to support developing countries in delivering the ‘30by30’ land target and…

- £5 million for projects which showcase the incredible work underway to study and restore nature across our network of Overseas Territories.

- Defra ministers attended the G7 Meeting on Climate, Energy and the Environment in Sapporo, Japan. The G7 leaders agreed a joint statement to tackle global nature loss.

- Hosted a major multinational event at Lancaster House in London to drive forward action on the COP15.

- £16 million of funding for Local Authorities to support plans to make new housing, industrial or commercial developments ‘nature friendly’

- Published the draft Border Target Operating Model setting out the UK Government’s plan to strengthen our borders against biosecurity threats and illegal imports.

- New climate change hub launched for forestry sector.

- Secured a landmark deal for nature at COP15 in Montreal to protect 30% of our land and ocean by 2030.

- England’s national parks were provided with an additional £4.4 million to support services such as visitor centres and park rangers.

- Handed over the COP Presidency at the COP27 summit in Egypt as we work to tackle climate change and reverse biodiversity loss.

- New Green Finance Strategy and Nature Markets Framework to develop growth of green finance was launched.

- Announced £110 million of funding for communities allocated under the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

- Announced a ban on the sale of peat-based products in the retail horticultural sector by 2024 this week.

- Re-opened grants to boost domestic tree production with £5 million available for free and seed suppliers

- Half a million pounds provided to our delivery partners of The Queen’s Green Canopy to fund the planting of trees in communities across the country.

- Published the Plant Biosecurity Strategy.

- Introduced new powers, including unlimited fines and prison sentences, as part of a crackdown on illegal tree felling in England.

- Launched the Great Britain Invasive Non-Native Species strategy.

- Opened this year’s round of the Tree Health Pilot - a 3-year scheme which tests different ways of slowing the spread of tree pests and diseases as well as building the resilience of trees across England.

- Made £14 million available to allow both local authorities and community groups to access funds for new tree-planting projects.

Local Nature Recovery Strategy Responsible authority

Planned total LNRS funding for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25

Buckinghamshire Council

£238,000

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

£307,974

Central Bedfordshire Council

£238,000

Cheshire West and Chester Council

£314,299

Cornwall Council

£343,692

Derbyshire County Council

£375,342

Devon County Council

£388,000

Dorset Council

£257,647

Durham County Council

£238,000

East Riding of Yorkshire Council

£240,747

East Sussex County Council

£300,740

Essex County Council

£379,987

Gateshead Council

£238,000

Gloucestershire County Council

£271,350

Greater London Authority

£238,000

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

£255,535

Hampshire County Council

£388,000

Herefordshire Council

£238,000

Hertfordshire County Council

£240,793

Isle of Wight Council

£238,000

Kent County Council

£381,784

Lancashire County Council

£388,000

Leicestershire County Council

£337,741

Lincolnshire County Council

£388,000

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

£238,000

Norfolk County Council

£333,020

North Northamptonshire Council

£238,000

North of Tyne Combined Authority

£285,498

North Yorkshire Council

£388,000

Nottinghamshire County Council

£285,268

Oxfordshire County Council

£238,000

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

£238,000

Shropshire Council

£320,921

Somerset Council

£310,000

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority

£241,265

Staffordshire County Council

£388,000

Suffolk County Council

£282,108

Surrey County Council

£254,844

Tees Valley Mayoral Combined Authority

£242,285

Warwickshire County Council

£238,000

West Midlands Combined Authority

£238,000

West Northamptonshire Council

£238,000

West of England Combined Authority

£243,909

West Sussex County Council

£255,464

West Yorkshire Combined Authority

£296,911

Westmorland and Furness Council

£388,000

Wiltshire Council

£277,813

Worcestershire County Council

£253,618

Total

£13,938,555

Linked statements

This statement has also been made in the House of Commons

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Nature Recovery
Trudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Conservative, Copeland
Statement made 3 July 2023
HCWS906
Commons