Incorporation of land into LNRS

Defra LNRS regulations stipulate that permissions are not needed by landowners to include parcels of land in LNRS Local Habitat Maps. However, during the development of the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy, effort was taken to engage with many farmers and landowners in the county. A Farmers and Landowners Working group was set up specifically for this purpose, that included representatives from the CLA, CPRE, NFU, local farming cluster representatives, FWAG, BASC and local landowner representatives. Farmers, landowners, land managers and foresters were invited to bespoke webinars and workshops, notified to send in land parcels they would like included in the strategy and invited to take part in the Public Consultation. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach every single farmer or landowner in the county. We apologise to those that were not consulted before publication.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy identifies land where it is deemed that nature recovery action could have a significant impact on biodiversity and it recommends the measures that can be taken to achieve this. However, there is no obligation for any landowner with land identified within an LNRS to undertake any of the recommendations made in the strategy. It is hoped that farmers and landowners will choose to follow some of the recommendations and capitalise on the funding that is available to undertake nature recovery activity on your land within Berkshire, particularly if it is highlighted within the LNRS, but there is no legal requirement to do so. Undertaking any of the measures suggested by the LNRS to assist with nature recovery in an area is an entirely voluntary exercise by the landowner or manager.

Some residential properties, roads and commercial buildings have incidentally been included in the Opportunity Areas of the Local Habitat Map. These areas are obviously inappropriate for conversion back to natural habitats. That is not an aim of the LNRS. This is due of the scales of the mapping process across Berkshire.