Localising Nature Recovery- A talk with the Sussex LNRS
The Autumn- Winter Farmer Cluster Event Series Kicked off with a deep dive into the Sussex Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). The talk explained the LNRS concept and shed light on the steps of the LNRS process up to the point of publishing and beyond. One of the fundamental foundations of the strategy is to touch on the thoughts of all community stakeholders as they work to build the LNRS. It is through this process that they hope to create a strategy that is truly reflective of the local community.
The talk generated a fascinating and engaging conversation with our cluster members who raised several important comments regarding the LNRS and wider nature recovery sector.
Understanding the scope of the LNRS
There was a lot of concern from cluster members about proposed developments in the local area and whether the LNRS would hold any power to sway decisions on such developments. This raises important questions as to the scope of the LNRS. The aim of the strategy is to direct nature recovery and funding for such projects to the places that need them most. Local plans and strategies will also need to “have regard for” the LNRS when making decisions on matters such as development. However, it is still unclear as to the level of weighting the LNRS will have within these decisions. Similarly, the LNRS is expected to play a role in the Environmental Land Management Schemes, but the scope is undefined. Despite this, the important take away from the day was the value of the opinions of farmers and landowners. Their knowledge on the ground is vital in shaping an understanding of where the measures for the LNRS should be targeted and mapped.
Saturation of funding opportunities available to farmers
Many of our members spoke of feeling confused and lost at where to direct nature recovery due to the overwhelming number of projects offering different schemes. With so many projects targeting different forms of nature recovery approaching landowners and farmers, it can be difficult to enact effective changes that will influence the local landscape. This is something that is at the heart of the reasons for the creation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies across the country. The final document should function as a guidance tool for identifying what measures have been mapped as important for delivery within your area. It will allow landowners to filter the continual stream of emerging initiatives to do with nature recovery and provide clarity towards grants that can address specific measures relevant to them. Of course, while this is extremely positive, the LNRS is still in progress and due to be published in the summer of 2025. In the meantime, several cluster events have been organized across the coming winter months with local projects that should help put faces to names and inform farmers and landowners better of who is doing what.
Ensuring the LNRS worked to acknowledge the intersecting nature of all threats to nature.
The cluster members expressed frustration at the damaging effect of viewing singular environmental problems in isolation of each other. They urged for more interconnectivity between the approaches taken to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. This is something the LNRS team assured us would be captured through the LNRS through acknowledging the importance of the factors such as the Lawton principles: delivering bigger, better, more, more joined-up habitats; and nature-based solutions: understanding what nature can deliver for society, especially the local community.
Predator Control
Members of the Middle Ouse cluster delved more specifically into concerns about specific measures the LNRS should include within their strategy. They were keen to hear whether any measures would be included to deliver predator control. Concerns were raised in relation to the role dogs and badgers play in depleting the abundance of other species through predation. The LNRS representatives highlighted that no clear standard has been set to date on how measures are chosen for strategies. As a result, they welcomed the opinions of those who experience what happens on their land and said this kind of information would play a vital role in developing that section of the strategy.