Council calls on government to support local action for nature recovery
Long-term investment and strong partnerships between landowners, environmental organisations and local communities will be needed to reduce the decline of natural habitats.
This is the message Brighton & Hove City Council has given to government in its response to consultation on proposals in the Environment Bill to create local strategies to help nature recover.
Last autumn Brighton & Hove highlighted the RSPB’s campaign to draw attention to the worsening nature crisis.
Local nature recovery strategies
The council supports the establishment of local nature recovery strategies as a way of identifying local priorities and monitoring actions to reverse habitat and species decline.
In addition, it will be an opportunity to bring together information to guide people on how to restore or create natural habitats in their area, from farmland and parks, to pockets of open space and gardens.
In its response to the proposal from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the council underlined the need for local authorities to have sustained support, rather than ‘one off’ funding. This would enable partners to establish a permanent local nature recovery strategy in their region.
The council highlighted the importance of farmers and landowners understanding how their local strategy and payments under new environmental management schemes will affect them. It also raised concerns about how the strategies would be viewed by the planning system; for example, what weight nature recovery would be given in face of the thousands of homes that local authorities, including Brighton & Hove, are being asked to deliver across the South East.
Supporting a healthy natural environment
Council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty, said: “We need to halt biodiversity loss and let nature recover, and this is why we fully support the messages from the government’s consultation on the Environment Bill.
“Supporting a healthy and resilient natural environment within our city and further afield have never been more important. But for the proposals to bring about the much-needed change, nature recovery needs to be supported and guided on the ground, through extensive engagement with local residents so they can identify areas and agree priorities.
“Really significant investment is needed to arrest the chronic decline in biodiversity and stem the devastating effects of our weather system on nature and wildlife. So in the week when the world’s eyes are on our country during COP26, the opportunity must not be missed to create more habitats that are bigger, better and joined up.”
Brighton & Hove’s response was submitted as lead partner for The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere.
Improving biodiversity
The council is already working to improve biodiversity and protect nature through regional partnerships such as The Living Coast Biosphere and the Sussex Local Nature Partnership. We’ve liaised with East and West Sussex County Councils and South Downs National Park Authority on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy consultation and will be working closely with them to achieve the most effective outcomes for nature recovery in Sussex.
Brighton & Hove recently consulted on the future of its rural estate through the City Downland Estate Plan and a public examination of City Plan Part 2 begins this week. The plan includes policies that seek biodiversity and green space improvements on new developments.
The city is located within the UK’s only urban Biosphere (The Living Coast) recognised for the international importance of its downland, coast and marine environments.
More information
Find out more about Defra’s consultation on local nature recovery strategies.
If agreed by government, work on our local nature recovery strategy could begin in spring 2022.
Brighton & Hove declared a biodiversity emergency in 2018.
