Berkshire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy

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The Berkshire Local


Nature Recovery


Strategy Public


Consultation is now


closed.



Now is a really exciting time for nature.



We need to think about where Berkshire nature needs our help the most and how people can benefit from giving nature a hand. Help us decide.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are spatial strategies to recover nature across England: part of the 2021 Environment Act. Together, they will cover the country in a Nature Recovery Network (NRN).

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead are excited to be the Responsible Authority (RA) for our Berkshire LNRS. Bracknell, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire and Wokingham are supporting authorities with Natural England. They are helping to contribute to the strategy. Updates on the progress of the LNRS are posted below.


Visualisation of stakeholder views on Berkshire Nature Recovery. Credits to Natalie Ganpatsingh.


Each LNRS will map areas of current particular importance for biodiversity, and work with partners from many groups, from landowners to businesses, to eNGOs, and the public. Priorities for nature recovery will be agreed and these will be used to create a local habitat map. These will depict what needs to happen to achieve the agreed aims for nature. This will link up with delivery mechanisms, such as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for planning and Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes for land management including farming.


Find a blog here from Natural England for more information on Local Nature Recovery Strategies.


The Berkshire Local


Nature Recovery


Strategy Public


Consultation is now


closed.



Now is a really exciting time for nature.



We need to think about where Berkshire nature needs our help the most and how people can benefit from giving nature a hand. Help us decide.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are spatial strategies to recover nature across England: part of the 2021 Environment Act. Together, they will cover the country in a Nature Recovery Network (NRN).

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead are excited to be the Responsible Authority (RA) for our Berkshire LNRS. Bracknell, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire and Wokingham are supporting authorities with Natural England. They are helping to contribute to the strategy. Updates on the progress of the LNRS are posted below.


Visualisation of stakeholder views on Berkshire Nature Recovery. Credits to Natalie Ganpatsingh.


Each LNRS will map areas of current particular importance for biodiversity, and work with partners from many groups, from landowners to businesses, to eNGOs, and the public. Priorities for nature recovery will be agreed and these will be used to create a local habitat map. These will depict what needs to happen to achieve the agreed aims for nature. This will link up with delivery mechanisms, such as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for planning and Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes for land management including farming.


Find a blog here from Natural England for more information on Local Nature Recovery Strategies.

Updates

Updates on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy regularly posted here. 


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  • Share The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy has entered its Pre-Publication Stage on Facebook Share The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy has entered its Pre-Publication Stage on Twitter Share The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy has entered its Pre-Publication Stage on Linkedin Email The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy has entered its Pre-Publication Stage link

    The Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy has entered its Pre-Publication Stage

    5 days ago
    This means the review of the Public Consultation has taken place, changes made to the LNRS documents and Local Habitat Map, and the final LNRS version has been drafted. Supporting Authorities are reviewing the strategy throughout July and if accepted, it will move to RBWM Cabinet in September.
  • Share LNRS Policy Update on Facebook Share LNRS Policy Update on Twitter Share LNRS Policy Update on Linkedin Email LNRS Policy Update link

    LNRS Policy Update

    5 months ago

    See the below DEFRA policy update regarding Local Nature Recovery Strategies.


    https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/05/local-nature-recovery-strategies-have-your-say/

  • Share Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy approved for Public Consultation on Facebook Share Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy approved for Public Consultation on Twitter Share Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy approved for Public Consultation on Linkedin Email Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy approved for Public Consultation link

    Berkshire Nature Recovery Strategy approved for Public Consultation

    7 months ago

    At the end of November, the pre consultation draft of the LNRS was approved by the Supporting Authorities of Berkshire, subject to some changes. Namely, these are Reading Borough Council, Slough Borough Council, Wokingham Borough Council, Bracknell Forest Council, West Berkshire District Council and Natural England. This was an important milestone for the project. The LNRS is now being updated with response to comments by SAs, before moving to the Public Consultation phase.

  • Share Pre Consultation Stage on Facebook Share Pre Consultation Stage on Twitter Share Pre Consultation Stage on Linkedin Email Pre Consultation Stage link

    Pre Consultation Stage

    9 months ago

    The next Berkshire LNRS Phase!


    We are excited to announce that the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy has reached a big milestone. A draft version of the strategy has now entered the Pre Consultation Phase: our fantastic supporting authorities (Wokingham, Slough, West Berkshire, Bracknell and Reading Borough Councils plus Natural England) are reviewing the documents. It will then be on its way to Public Consultation.


    This Public Consultation is planned to take place 2nd January - 15th February 2025. During this time, there will be an opportunity for the community of Berkshire to review the strategy documents in a public... Continue reading

  • Share Call to action on Facebook Share Call to action on Twitter Share Call to action on Linkedin Email Call to action link

    Call to action

    about 1 year ago

    Call to action

    We would like people to send the locations of parcels of land that would be suitable for additional nature recovery measures or management. This will help create a layer of areas more likely to be selected in our final map of prioritised locations.

    This applies to landowners and land managers, but also to community groups and individuals planning nature projects in specific areas.

    Please note, we are specifically looking for areas that could undertake nature recovery work, not areas which are already being managed for nature.

    If you possess maps: as GIS layers, PDFs or a scan... Continue reading

  • Share Our Data Prioritisation methodology on Facebook Share Our Data Prioritisation methodology on Twitter Share Our Data Prioritisation methodology on Linkedin Email Our Data Prioritisation methodology link

    Our Data Prioritisation methodology

    over 1 year ago

    An important part of our Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy is the method of choosing which areas of Berkshire to prioritise for nature recovery. We cannot select everywhere: we have to decide where is most important to focus effort on first. Here in Berkshire, we decided to input priorities from all of our stakeholders (from our workshops and survey) and from documents existing on nature recovery from various councils, public bodies and NGOs, into a piece of software called Marxan. This undergoes a process called Systematic Conservation Planning.


    More on Marxan

    Marxan is a Decision Support software tool for conservation... Continue reading

  • Share Farmer and Landowner Workshops completed on Facebook Share Farmer and Landowner Workshops completed on Twitter Share Farmer and Landowner Workshops completed on Linkedin Email Farmer and Landowner Workshops completed link

    Farmer and Landowner Workshops completed

    over 1 year ago

    Our three workshops for farmers, landowners, land managers and foresters have been completed.

    Below is a map of where representatives at the workshops managed land across Berkshire




    We saw representatives from the following sectors:

    Central Berkshire - (29 attendees)

    • Parish council representatives
    • Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust Representatives
    • Ecologists– Reading Borough Council
    • Farmers/Landowners x 5
    • BioCap
    • Forestry Commission
    • University of Reading – agro-environment group x3
    • Farmer cluster facilitator
    • Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead officers – Natural Environment Team and Equalities and Diversity team
    • Berkshire College of Agriculture
    • Atomic Weapons Establishment ecologist




    East Berkshire - (48 attendees)

  • Share Community workshops launched on Facebook Share Community workshops launched on Twitter Share Community workshops launched on Linkedin Email Community workshops launched link

    Community workshops launched

    over 1 year ago
    We are excited to make our seven community workshops, plus our survey, live today. These are opportunities for residents, community groups, businesses and NGOs to have their say on their priorities for nature recovery in Berkshire.
  • Share More workshops coming on Facebook Share More workshops coming on Twitter Share More workshops coming on Linkedin Email More workshops coming link

    More workshops coming

    over 1 year ago
    • 6 free Borough specific engagement events are being planned for April. These will be promoted to the public, community groups, harder to reach groups, businesses etc). These will primarily stakeholder collect priorities for nature. There will be light refreshments provided. These will be run in conjunction with a local group, e.g. the Wokingham event with Earley Environmental Group. The West Berks event may be held at the BBOWT Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre. These will include stakeholders from different disciplines. Stakeholder engagement working group is contributing to the design of these. A stakeholder engagement plan has been drafted by Just Ideas.
  • Share Workshops live! on Facebook Share Workshops live! on Twitter Share Workshops live! on Linkedin Email Workshops live! link

    Workshops live!

    over 1 year ago
    • 3 free farmer/landowner engagement workshops are now live: Wasing Estate, Windsor Great Park and Reading University Farm for farmer landowner workshops (18th, 12th and 6th March respectively). These will be catered. Opportunities to discuss priorities for nature, learn about LNRS and BNG, and to register interest in land being included in the LNRS. Farmer engagement working group is contributing to planning and advertisement of these workshops.
Page last updated: 10 Jul 2025, 03:44 PM