Northumberland County Council has committed to leading the region’s response to nature recovery. 
 

The Council has agreed to take the lead in developing the North of Tyne Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) which will outline plans to reduce and mitigate flooding, improve carbon sequestration through peatlands, trees and woodlands and enhance biodiversity through wildlife conservation. 
 

The Council has also agreed to act as the accountable body for the participation of the English part of the Borderlands area in the Government’s Local Investment in Natural Capital (LINC) programme. 
 

To support this work, the Council’s Cabinet welcomed a grant of £285,000 from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which will be split over two financial years. 
 

The Council is focusing on how the natural environment can help mitigate the effects of climate change following its declaration of a climate emergency in 2019. 
 

Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Glen Sanderson, who is also cabinet member for Culture Creative and Rural at the North of Tyne Combined Authority, said: “Northumberland is rich in green lands and wildlife, giving us a huge opportunity to be at the forefront of nature recovery in the North East. 
 

“Our natural environment is imperative to our existence. About one third of the food we eat is entirely dependent on pollinating insects alone. We rely on nature for so many things – from the food we eat to air we breathe and the water we drink – and we all play a part in protecting it. 
 

“There has been growing concern about food supply and food security in the county and we recognise how valuable our farmers and land managers are for food production, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration and we want to work with them.  
 

“It is vitally important that these are not seen as competing land uses, as has often been the case in the past, and we must rise to the challenge of integrating them.”