Local Nature Recovery Strategy

Buckinghamshire’s natural environment is the foundation of our health, prosperity, identity and heritage. It boasts varied landscapes – from the low-lying farmland of Aylesbury Vale, the floodplain grasslands of the Upper Ray Valley, the ancient woodland, chalk grasslands and internationally important chalk streams of the Chiltern Hills, and the streams and rivers that feed the River Thames. The Milton Keynes area includes both the urban landscape of the city, its form and layout reflecting its origins as a late–20th Century planned new town and its continued growth with major developments ongoing beyond the original new town boundary; and the rural area beyond, to the north east.   

But nature is highly fragile, and the countryside may look green and pleasant, it disguises dramatic declines in species’ diversity and abundance. Nature is declining at an unprecedented rate, with 41% of species having declined in the UK since 1970. These include some of our best-known wildlife such as skylarks, yellowhammers, water voles, hares, hedgehogs, frogs, and toads.

To address the alarming declines of nature, we need a bold new strategy – the Local Nature Recovery Strategy – that paves the way for nature’s recovery, which draws on work already done locally, such as through the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Natural Environment Partnership, and gives a voice to the people who live, work and manage land in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.

While Buckinghamshire was chosen as one of five areas in the country to trial the development of the LNRS in 2020-2021, we are now in the early stages of developing the final strategy. Ultimately, these local strategies will form part of a national Nature Recovery Network – creating improved, joined-up, wildlife-rich places which will benefit people and wildlife.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE LNRS, CLICK HERE.