Local Nature Recovery Strategy

Local Nature Recovery Strategies are a new way of prioritising nature needs on a more local and focused level. Find out more here.

Page Contents:

Local Nature Recovery and Progress Update

Learn more about the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) and how it affects Northumberland.

What is a Local Nature Recovery Strategy?

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a new way of prioritising nature needs on a more local and focused level. They will help agree targets and aims for increasing biodiversity by mapping current levels of nature and then highlight areas for improvement. A key feature of an LNRS is that it will identify both areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity and areas where the recovery or enhancement of biodiversity could help address other environmental problems.

The DEFRA guidance breaks down the LNRS process into a few steps:
  • Map designated sites and irreplaceable habitats,
  • Describe the area and opportunities for nature,
  • Identify potential measures,
  • Map areas that could become important for biodiversity. 
In this way, the LNRS itself will be a combination of the map stages and the written stages.  We have formed a Steering Group, and we have also formed a sub group in order to make progress with tasks.  

The attached pdf document explains more (click here, opens in a new window, 2.8MB, 82 pages).  It summarises the process for preparing the LNRS, as set out in the Government guidance we are following.  And it starts the consultation to validate the "building blocks" of the first steps in the LNRS process. 

In December 2024, Defra published this useful advice note (opens in a new page).  

If you have any questions about the LNRS in Northumberland, please email us at; LNRS@northumberland.gov.uk.

Meanwhile if you would like to explore maps of environmental designations in the county then take a look at our map library or our interactive maps. There is also MagicMaps, published by Defra, which is a useful guide to many of the national datasets.  

2025
At the turn of the year, Defra published this useful advice note (opens in a new page).   

We held habitat workshops in January and February, focusing on Priorities and Measures (actions).  Phase3 of our survey research (which you can read about below).  We are concluding research into existing policies, strategies, and initiatives in the N of Tyne area.  In April 2025 we started working on the mapping.  Meanwhile, our survey is still open - your chance to tell us what you think about farming and wildlife.  

The Natural History Society Northumbria hosted an evening talk about the LNRS and that is now available on YouTube (opens in a new window, talk is 51 minutes long).

Wednesday 2nd April the LNRS was at the Communities and Place scrutiny committee.  You can watch this again as a recording on YouTube (opens in a new window, meeting was 90 minutes long).  

We have Steering Group meetings in March, May, and July.

There are 5 Authorities' political processes and timescales to consider, in the autumn (3 councils, 1 National Park and the Combined Authority).  A consultation draft will be taken to the cabinet of the North East Combined Authority in November 2025. 

After that, a public consultation will be launched.  Everybody will have time to have their say.  We will consider all the responses to that and make any changes needed, before seeking final approval to publish from Natural England.  We expect this to be open for 2 months to allow time for feedback.  A final LNRS is to be published, we expect, in March - April 2026.  

2024
We held five steering group meetings in 2024.  We have also formed a sub-group, meeting monthly.   

We have been working regionally with the three other LNRSs in the North East (South of Tyne and Wear, Durham, and Tees Valley) to make sure we are co-ordinated, especially cross-border, on the maps and data side of things. Similarly, we are linking with the two new Authorities in Cumbria to make sure our boundary is co-ordinated (Cumberland, Westmorland & Furness) and also mindful of the Scottish Borders Council.

In March 2024, the North East Records Centre organised a north-east regional species conference, for the recording community.  Together with the Environmental Records Centre we have worked on a "long list" of species, although the specides guidance is very different to the habitat guidance.  The species longlists are available to download from their website (the marine species longlist is separate). 

We have been working on our "stage 1" map.  (The LNRS guidance sets out five steps for us to follow; stage 1 and stage 5 are map stages).  You can see this mapping here (opens in a new page).  The first tile you will see there is the part that fulfills the statutory guidance about the LNRS.  The second, third and fifth tiles are extra.  The tile about conversation areas just explains how we are dividing up the geography to help with consultation, read on.  

In terms of "stage 3" of the LNRS process, we reviewed descriptions of the nature and biodiversity in the area that we wrote in early 2021, and updating that text.  Our description of the biodiversity in the area is written using the National Character Areas (NCAs) as a way of dividing up the North of Tyne into similar landscapes. This document can be downloaded below as the "technical consultation".  The consultation for that was in April and May 2024 and has now finished. 

We are held consultation events in the summer 2024.  The fourth tile in this map collection (here, opens in a new page) shows how we are dividing the North of Tyne up into seven areas to make these conversations practical.  We produced A2 fold-out maps for each of the seven areas (scroll down to the section "A conversation about nature recovery" to see these electronically or to download)

In autumn 2024: we worked on:

  • gathering expert input from the steering group, the sub group, and our technical experts, as to the long list of priorities and measures,
  • developing a prioritisation matrix,
  • writing up the results of our farmer survey and follow up farmer telephone interviews,
  • the survey is still open, not just for farmers now, but also for communities and local groups,
  • reviewing all the existing strategies, documents, and initiatives with partners, and how they mesh together,
  • planning for habitat workshops in the New Year.
We held a consultation, open for a month, where partners and members of the technical reference group could tell us their suggested priorities and measures, as well as input their thoughts on other topics - like wider environmental benefits.  
​
2023
Defra published the statutory guidance in March 2023. The guidance details what responsible authorities should include in their LNRS. It builds on what is already required in the Environmental Act, covering some of the more technical aspects of LNRS preparation, and how LNRSs should be aligning with other plans and strategies. 

In June 2023 the 48 Responsible Authorities for England were announced.  A paper went to July's 2023's cabinet meeting (11 July 2023) on this topic. The North of Tyne geography is Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside.  

We held two steering groups in 2023.  The Steering Group is made up of members of Northumberland County Council, North Tyneside Council, Newcastle City Council, Natural England, Northumberland National Park Authority, the Northumberland Coast National Landscape, the North Pennines National Landscape, the Environment Agency, the Marine Nature Partnership, the Forestry Commission and the North of Tyne Combined Authority (which became the North East Combined Authority in May 2024). 

2021
The Environment Act (2021) (on gov.uk).

2020-2021
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) ran five pilots in autumn and winter 2020-2021 in collaboration with Natural England and local partner organisations.  The aim was to test how Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) could be created. Northumberland was one of the five pilots.  Being involved at the initial pilot stage gave Northumberland a unique opportunity to work with partners, to develop this process and shape a local, landscape scale approach to developing LNRSs.  It was more about testing the process, rather than producing an early LNRS. 

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs about the LNRS

I am a farmer, what does the LNRS mean on my farm?  We hoped that when the guidance came out for producing LNRSs, that the link to the new ELMS would be more established, and clearer.  However, ELMS is just one potential way of funding places where you might want to do things differently on farm.  Other ways of funding might be through biodiversity net gain (developers paying to create or improve habitat to compensate for where building has taken place).  Or through "green finance" - which is potentially companies wanting to invest in the natural environment.  So, there are lots of different opportunities for additional income to the farm business. 

We think that by being part of the LNRS you will be able to shape what the future of your land might look like.  That your ideas and thoughts are in it from the start. 

We don't know the answers of the future ELMS yet, or whether being part of it will mean additional payments on farm, or whether it means your ideas will be targetted for biodiversity net gain money.  But we do know that we want the LNRS to take time to properly listen to farmers and land managers and take on board what you say.  
We know that some farmers and land managers have been farming in nature-friendly ways for generations - taking on from their parents and grandparents.  Some farmers are newer-comers to the ideas of regenerative farming or nature-friendly farming (the movement has many names!).  

We want to recognise and celebrate these good places!  We have to call it the "Local Nature Recovery Strategy" otherwise, when we go out to talk to people about it, they won't know it is this they are part of.  
We know that farmers and land managers know their sites better than anybody else.  It is really hard to have up to date, detailed survey information for an area that is as big as Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside!  

Farmers can help by recording species like certain birds, butterflies, flowers.  In Cumbria, after the LNRS pilots, a project took part where farmers added a lot of species records.  We might be doing something similar here in due course.  Also, farmers can help by pointing out your most interesting fields that other surveys are getting wrong.  

In urban areas there is the same problem.  There are "brownfield sites" which are places that have been left for a few years that used to have some sort of building or infrastructure on them.  As nature comes back these can be a haven for rare species that benefit from not having too much competetion from grasses.  Rare butterflies or spiders for example.  But even here, we haven't been able to keep up with surveying the habitats brownfield sites and recording the species there.  

There is probably going to be a bit of a lack of trained ecologists to do habitat surveys.  
We think there is enough room for food production as well.  There might be places on the farm where it is difficult to farm, or the land only makes a profit in certain years.  These areas you could be paid for doing things differently.  

Often there isn't always one action to take on these areas - there are choices.  So, for instance, a wet area could become a pond or a scrape for birds.  Or it could become a tree planting area.  There is and will be money available to help integrate these ideas into the farm business and let farmers concentrate on the food production places.  
There is a statutory requirement for each draft LNRS to go through a public consultation process, so that everyone has the opportunity to provide that sense check and identify things that might have fallen through the cracks.  We are aiming for this in Spring 2025.  Everybody will have time to comment and have their say.  
The Environment Act defines an LNRS as comprising two things: a statement of biodiversity priorities and a habitat map - so it will have a strong spatial component. However it won't be exclusively spatial, because many of the priorities and measures that we identify in the statement of biodiversity priorities will not be mappable.  For example, restoration of native woodland cover on plantations on ancient woodland sites would be mappable because PAWS are specific features in the landscape that have been mapped. But measure concerning increasing the length of hedgerows across the LNRS area wouldn't be mappable as they could go in so many places.
One of the frustrations of working on the LNRS is that we don't know the answer to this question. We hope it will help to shape schemes such as ELMS, but we don't know the extent to which it will, and that is out of our hands.
There will certainly be big gaps in the mapping, because DEFRA is requiring us to work really hard to distil our priorities down to a relatively small number.  We are also bearing in mind, that if the best use is to be made of limited resources, it is also true that nature recovery work can be done anywhere and everywhere. 

So, we will be producing a section of the written report that looks specifically on those 'white space' areas. Overall the map will have big gaps (because that is what is required of us, and you can't have priorities covering everything), but we are aiming for aspects of the text to be relevant everywhere.
There is a balance to be found here. The LNRS needs to be ecologically sound and coherent, and therefore it needs to be driven by ecological science and by the established legal and policy framework that defines what is important in terms of habitats and species.

So, for example, if opinions were offered that peat bogs don't matter or curlews don't matter, that wouldn't shape the LNRS in the sense of those habitats and species being downgraded in importance, no matter how many people told us that they believed they didn't matter.

However, those opinions would shape the LNRS in identifying that there is a mismatch between an 'ecologically-informed' view of what matters and a farmer and landowner view of what matters, and soa need to do something about that.

So opinions really matter, not in the sense of LNRS priorities being determined by popular vote, but in the sense of helping us to understand where there are synergies and conflicts between understandings of what is important to achieve nature recovery.

Where there are synergies we know we can expect to be able to work together towards common goals.  But where there is less common understanding, we know that the next step is to learn in more detail what the concerns are, and see how those could be addressed.
In December 2024, Defra published this useful advice note (opens in a new page) which touches on this question.  

"Planning law – Changes to planning law, expected to come into force later in 2025, will make it a legal requirement for plan-makers to “take account” of LNRSs. Like the existing requirements on Local Plans, this will help the needs of nature recovery to be properly reflected in the planning system. It will also apply to a wider range of similar spatial plans, at larger and smaller scale than local plans."

"Targeting BNG – LNRSs will determine where habitat creation or enhancement for BNG will be of ‘high strategic significance’. This means that when habitat is created or enhanced to generate biodiversity units for the purposes of BNG, it gets a 15% uplift in the biodiversity metric if it follows what is set out in the LNRS."

Then in February 2025, further guidance was issued, about the role of the LNRS in the planning process.  You can read the planning practice guidance on gov uk (opens in a new page).  This guidance explains how local planning authorities (LPAs) should interpret their legal duty to “have regard” to LNRSs, and how LNRSs should be used to help meet existing national planning policy on protecting and enhancing biodiversity. 

The Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) user guide (opens in a new page on gov.uk).  Page 27-9 in particular deals with the strategic significance and the scores to apply.  

The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) have published some guidance on the strategic significance multiplier (opens in a new page).  From here, there is a further 7-page A4 pdf to explore further, if you would like more detail.  

Survey

Information about the LNRS survey open to all farmers and land managers in the North of Tyne area.

During August and September 2024, we had a farmer survey open.  We are very grateful to the farmers and landowners who let us know what they think by filling it in.  We promoted it, with our partners, at various events, shows, and farmer meetings.  

This is a record of the events (pdf, opens in a new page). 

The survey is still open, if you would like to tell us what you think (opens in a new page).  You can help us shape the future of our land and nature.  Your voice matters!  The survey is now open to communities and local groups, not just farmers and land managers.  

This is a chance to have your say on what matters to you about the wildlife and nature in your area.  Including your improvement ideas and the challenges you face.  We want the LNRS to reflect the views, priorities, experience, and knowledge of our local people.  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts.  

Half the respondents from the August-September months are being followed up with 1:1 telephone interviews.  Read on for a summary of the farmer responses.  

23 farmers and land managers were generous with their time to spend half an hour in a phone call exploring all the ideas from the survey in greater detail, adding context, and understanding about their perspectives.  This will be useful to the development and delivery of the LNRS. 

Notes taken during the calls have been allocated to a series of themes.  A summary of the points made is here, but this list is not in any particular order. 
  • All the people spoken to care about nature and want to see it thrive.
  • There is a strong sense that farming supports nature, but in order to do this, farm businesses must be viable.
  • Farmers see themselves as food producers who operate a business, which also supports nature. Balancing these elements effectively is challenging.
  • There is support for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme – it feels practical and financially worthwhile.
  • Upland farmers are facing more of a challenge in accessing agri-environment scheme support and funding.
  • There is a sense of "why is nature declining, when we have been doing what we’ve been asked to do through the schemes for decades?"
  • There are strong beliefs around the link between grazing livestock and wildlife.
  • There is support for taking a regenerative approach, with an emphasis on soil management.
  • Some farmers are struggling financially, particularly smaller farms and those with tenancies.
  • There is a strong sense that farmers don’t feel listened to, despite making efforts to convey their views and experiences.
  • There are calls for information and support which respects the existing knowledge and skills of farmers.
  • There are calls for financial incentive to drive collaboration between farmers in order to deliver change at landscape scale.
  • ‘Non-farmed’ land (examples here are: linear routes, large gardens/plots, former landfill sites) are ineligible for agri-environment scheme funding. Though comparatively small, these parcels have the potential to add up as significant elements of a habitat network both locally and nationally. There are calls for new opportunities for both funding and coordination to enable this to happen.
  • There is some scepticism about the purpose and potential impact of the LNRS, but also calls for ambition at a functional landscape scale using new financial mechanisms.
If you would like a copy of the full report please email lnrs@northumberland.gov.uk
The survey had 53 responses during August and September 2024.  Here are the key findings from the survey.  If you would like a copy of the full report please email lnrs@northumberland.gov.uk.
  • One third of the responses were from a landowner with more than 100 ha holding,
  • 68% of the respondents are already in an agri-environment scheme,
  • Half are in a farmer cluster or facilitation group (with a very few not considering this as an option),
  • Woodlands were ranked as the most important habitat for wildlife when the top 3 choices were combined, otherwise habitats like wetland, peatland / mires came out the top,
  • Other top-ranking habitats were species-rich grasslands, and rivers / riparian habitats,
  • In terms of species, birds were the most mentioned group - with curlew a clear favourite,
  • Red squirrels were also notably mentioned
  • Helping pollinators was the main benefit in managing habitats for wildlife,
  • Most respondents were interested in planting trees or hedges, and introducing wildflowers, and also mentioned as the action respondents were already doing,
  • The greatest barriers were issues around the support schemes (waiting for scheme launch, lack of clarity, and agreement length),
  • Lack of time and finance are also both barriers,
  • Experiences of the landlord / tenant relationship varies with respect to managing land for wildlife, 
  • Longer tenancies would be beneficial,
  • The most cited factors that would help are more local advice / information and increased funding / incentives,
  • People expressed a range of views on what they would like to see others doing to benefit wildlife,
  • Support for initiatives like the farmer clusters and advice services was mentioned,
  • Communiciation methods such as farm walks, site visits, meetings are popular, but new approaches are also needed (social media, peer-to-peer, collaboration with farmer co-operatives),
  • 30 responsdents would be willing to take part in a 1:1 telephone interview,
  • 17 participants would welcome advice, and 14 would like a site visit to talk through their ideas.
In January 2025, we commissioned phase 3 of this research - talking to stakeholder bodies / representative organisations / woodland stakeholders. Here is a summary of the findings.

Many of the opinions expressed by representatives from the farming and landowning sectors echoed and built on themes identified during earlier conversations with farmers and landowners themselves.The following points were distilled from the conversations as potentially pertinent to the development and delivery of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. This is not a ranked list.
  1. There is enthusiasm and commitment from stakeholders to participate in and support the LNRS process. It is a great opportunity to focus effort for nature recovery in the region.
  2. Farmers are feeling beleaguered and criticised.
  3. Foresters feel their industry and expertise is underrepresented and unappreciated.
  4. Financial viability for those delivering nature recovery action is essential for the credibility of the LNRS.
  5. Timescales for ecological change are long. Few business or land management sectors operate along equivalent timescales, but forestry does.
  6. Targeted nature recovery action within commercially managed forestry operations may avoid the need for grant aid.
  7. The nature and other public benefits of commercially managed woodlands are not widely recognised.
  8. Differing views on the relative importance of woodland and the species dependent on open habitats is leading to frustration and resentment towards colleagues. This has the potential to de-rail consensus-building and subsequent action to deliver for nature recovery in the North of Tyne area.
  9. Talking to stakeholders and open consultation takes time and costs money, but ultimately builds the trust and relationships that successful delivery is built on.
If you would like a copy of the full report please email lnrs@northumberland.gov.uk

Technical Consultation

"Stage 2" of the LNRS process

We held a technical consultation with wildlife, nature and species "experts".  It was open for comments for six weeks between April and May 2024.  The consultation on this element is now closed.  Here is a copy of the presentation delivered at the launch event at The Sill (1.5 MB, opens in a new window).  Thank you to everybody who sent in their comments, we have those safely and they will help improve the next steps.  

The attached pdf document explains more (click here, opens in a new window, 2.8MB, 82 pages).  It summarises the process for preparing the LNRS, as set out in the Government guidance we are following.  And it starts the consultation to validate the "building blocks" of the first steps in the LNRS process. 

Our description of the biodiversity in the area is written using the National Character Areas (NCAs) as a way of dividing up the North of Tyne into similar landscapes. 

Our mapping for stage 1 of the LNRS process is here, which is part of a collection of maps (both links open in a new window).  The NCAs can be viewed interactively at the end of the first map tile.  Our proposed "conversation areas" is the fourth one of the collection.

We are working with the Environmental Records Information Centre (ERIC).  The species longlists are available to download from their website and it was updated in October 2024 following changes in the published Red Data Book.  The marine species longlist is separate but also via the same link.  

The technical experts group is a set of people who were invited to, or who came, to our launch event at The Sill in April 2024.  It includes experts in the following fields / species: 
  • Badger groups
  • Bat groups
  • British Brylogical Society
  • British Lichen Society
  • Botantical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI County Recorders)
  • British Trust for Ornithology
  • Butterfly Conservation
  • Ecologists who work for various cosultanties in the area
  • Environmental Records Information Centre (ERIC)
  • Environment Agency ecology specialists
  • Freshwater Habitats Trust
  • Groundwork north east
  • Members of CIEEM who are in the area
  • Ministry of Defence Ecologist
  • Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN)
  • Northumbrian Water Ltd Ecologist
  • National Trust
  • Natural England ecology / project specialists
  • Newcastle University ecology specialists
  • North East Beached Bird Survey
  • North East Cetacean Project
  • North East Reptiles and Amphibians Group
  • Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club
  • North East Fungi Study Group (NEFSG)
  • Northumberland IFCA (Inshore Fisheries and Conservation) 
  • Northumberland Rivers Trust
  • Tyne Rivers Trust
  • Tweed Forum
  • Plantlife
  • Red Squirrels Northern England 
  • RSPB
  • Species Recovery Trust
  • Swifts Local Network
  • Upland Bird Study Group
  • Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS)
  • Wild Intrigue
  • Woodland Trust
  • Border Mires Committee : 2 independent members

Maps

Stage 1 and stage 5 of the LNRS process.

Part of the early stages of an LNRS is setting out what is already mapped as areas good for nature.  This includes certain designations and irreplaceable habitat.  

Our mapping for stage 1 of the LNRS process is here, which is part of a collection of maps (both links open in a new window).  It explains more about all the different designations, and irreplaceable habitat.  

We come back to maps at the very final stage, once we have worked with stakeholders and communities in the North of Tyne area on everybody's priorities and measures (actions).  

We have had some specific advice from DEFRA about mapping actions in areas in natinonally designated sites, like SSSIs.  It should only be done where an action:
  • would add value over and above existing management plans or statutory powers,
  • provide for habitat or species that weren't covered by the orginal designation,
  • where there is part of a wider logical unit, for example hydrology, or control of invasive non-native species (INNS),
  • or where the action relates to wider environmental benefits (which complement the designation).
In our work on the maps, we have discovered that Bassington is still on the map as a Local Nature Reserve.  This was temporarily designated in 1998.  We think the process to officially de-designate it was never completed, partly because everybody local knew it was only temporary.  It is just west of Cramlington station and at least half of it has since been built on.  

We intend to de-declare it officially, under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949) and appendix 1 of the Natural England 2010 publication below.  

Bassington LNR on data.gov.uk

Bassington LNR in Natural England's designated sites view

Section 19 of the NPACA (1949)

Publication "Local Nature Reserves in England: A guide to their selection and declaration" (Natural England, 2010)

First published: 9th January 2025

Events

Details of engagement events

In summer 2024, we divided the North of Tyne area into seven landscapes and held various events, to have conversations about nature recovery, and listen to your thoughts.  The seven areas are on page 26 of the "technical consultation" document that can be downloaded below. or or a full version can be viewed by clicking here, (opens in a new page).  In summary they are: 

We don't currently have any events planned

But we will update this area of the website when we do.  This is a record of where we promoted the farmer survey (the survey is still open, scroll up on this website to find out more).  

A conversation about nature recovery

The map of the North of Tyne area broken down into seven conversation areas, and a brochure for each one.

We have divided the North of Tyne into seven "conversation" areas. 

Here is a link to an interactive map.
Here is a pdf of the same map that can be downloaded.

The seven areas are: 

Useful links

Links to external websites about the LNRS.

Factsheets, FAQs, policy updates 
A 1 page factsheet that summarises these documents can be downloaded from here (pdf, opens in a new window).  

A set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Planning Advisory Service website (opens in a new window).

A policy paper that explains what LNRSs are, what they will look like, how they will be prepared, who can be involved, how they will be delivered and when they will be reviewed and updated (on gov.uk).

The Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) user guide (opens in a new page on gov.uk).  Page 27-9 in particular deals with the strategic significance and the scores to apply.  The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) have published some guidance on the strategic significance multiplier (opens in a new page).  From here, there is a further 7-page A4 pdf to explore further, if you would like more detail.

In April 2024, Natural England published an information note about the definitions and descriptions relating to the habitat target in the Environment Act.  This lists nearly 100 wildlife-rich habitats.  These are the ones that are in scope for the LNRS.  The publication can be downloaded from here Environment Act Habitat Target – Definitions and Descriptions - TIN219 (opens in a new page).

In December 2024, Defra published this useful advice note (opens in a new page).

In February 2025, the planning practice guidance on gov.uk (opens in a new page) was updated to include information about the role of LNRSs in the planning system.  

The UK has published a national biodiversity strategy and action plan for 2030.  It commits the UK to achieving international targets, linked to the Convention on Biological Diversity. (opens in a new page on gov.uk) 

In March 2025, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill was published (opens in gov.uk in a new page).  This includes establishing an Environmental Delivery Plan and a Nature Restoration Fund (an alternative approach for developers to meet certain environmental obligations relating to protected sites and species).

Neighbouring LNRS
Our neighbouring LNRSs: Species list
The species lists hosted on the Environmental Records Information Centre North East.

Maps
A map of all the responsible authorities in England (on gov.uk).  We think the North of Tyne is one of the biggest. 

Meanwhile if you would like to explore maps of environmental designations in the county then take a look at our map library or our interactive maps. There is also MagicMaps, published by Defra, which is a useful guide to many of the national datasets.

Pilots
Read more on DEFRA's website about the main findings and lessons learned from the pilots.

Legislation
The Environment Act (2021) (on gov.uk).  And Definitions and descriptions in the Environment Act Habitat Target (Natural England publication TIN219).

The Regulations are part of a Statutory Instrument and were also published, you can read them on the legislation.gov.uk website here.  They set out how we should work together to prepare and agree the LNRS, as well as who else needs to be involved.  

Statutory guidance
You can find the statutory guidance for LNRSs here (on gov.uk) or this webpage (also gov.uk).  DEFRA have also produced non-statutory advice to help us. 

From DEFRA
A LNRS explainer video made by DEFRA: A video from Minister Trudy Harrison (Twitter, LinkedIn).

A DEFRA blog (November 2023) on the link between LNRS and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

GDPR Statement

Our GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Privacy Statement for contacts involved in the LNRS

How we handle your information
This Privacy Notice is designed to help you understand how Northumberland County Council as a registered Data Controller will handle your personal information. It will outline why we ask for your personal information, detail the information we hold, how it is used, shared and how long it is kept for. It will also detail how you can exercise your rights.

Why do we ask for your personal information? 
We use information about people who have an interest in nature to keep them updated with developments of the LNRS.  

What information do we hold? 
We only process the minimum personal information and special category (sensitive) information required to deliver the LNRS.

The personal information we process includes:
● basic details about you: name, phone number, email address, organisation
● contact we have had with you, for example, events you have attended or topics you have emailed about.

We are not processing any sensitive personal information about you. 

How does the law allow us to use your personal information?
There are a number of legal reasons why we are allowed to collect and use your personal information. In order to process your personal data, you have given consent for us to use your personal information.  Our service in this case is about helping to deliver the LNRS in the N of Tyne area.  

How long do you keep my information for? 
We will only store your information for as long as is legally required or in situations where there is no legal retention period, they will follow established best practice. The retention for the LNRS project is currently until mid-2025. 

Who will you share my information with? 
We are not intending to share your personal information with others.  In some instances, we may share with internal council services.  

Can request a copy of my records? 
You can request what information we hold about you. If you wish to see a copy of your records you should submit a Subject Access Request which is available through our website or by contacting the Information Governance Office. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

Do I have Other Rights? 
Data Protection law gives you the right: 

1. To be informed why, where, and how we use your information. 
2. To ask for access to your information
3. To ask for information to be corrected if inaccurate or incomplete. 
4. To ask for your information to be deleted or removed where there is no need for us to continue processing it. 
5. To ask us to restrict the use of your information. 
6. To ask us to copy or transfer your information from one IT system to another in a safe and secure way. 
7. To object to how your information is used. 
8. To challenge any decisions made without human intervention (automated decision making). 
9. To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office 
10. If our processing is based upon your consent, to withdraw your consent. 

Data Protection Officer: informationgovernance@northumberland.gov.uk

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with the way we process your data. Details can be found on the ICO website, or you may write to the ICO at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113, Email: casework@ico.org.uk 

Glossary

A glossary for definitions of some technical words/phrases that are used throughout.

Nature Recovery Network (NRN) - a single, national network which will benefit people and wildlife by increasing, improving and joining-up wildlife-rich places across England, stretching from our cities to countryside, mountains to coast. At its core will be enhanced sites designated for nature conservation and other existing wildlife-rich places. Additional, newly created or restored nature-rich habitat, corridors and stepping stones will help wildlife populations grow and move. It will improve landscape resilience to climate change, provide natural solutions that reduce carbon and manage flood risk, and sustain vital ecosystems such as improved soil, clean water and clean air. It will reinforce the natural and cultural diversity of our landscapes, help to protect their historic environments, and enable us to enjoy and connect with nature where we live, work and play - benefiting our health and wellbeing.

Environment Act -  An Act to work on cleaner air, restoring habitats, increasing biodiversity and making better use of resources.  New environmental targets will be enforced by a new Office for Environmental Protection.  It included the duty to prepare Local Nature Recovery Strategies - 48 of these cover the whole of England. (Follow this link to the gov.uk website).  Here is a publication about definitions and descriptions in the Environment Act Habitat Target (Natural England publication TIN219).

Ramsar Sites - Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance that have been designated under the criteria of the Ramsar convention on wetlands for containing representative, rare or unique wetland types or for their importance in conserving biological diversity.  Find out more here. 

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - is a formal conservation designation. Usually, it describes an area that is of particular interest to science due to the rare species of fauna or flora it contains - or even important geological or physiological features that may lie in its boundaries.  SSSIs often contain important habitats such as grasslands, parkland and woodland. Some even contain ancient woodland and ancient trees. In other words, these areas have high conservation value, and need to be protected.  The locations of these protected areas as well as others can be seen on Defra's MAGiC map.  

Climate Change mitigation - refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Mitigation can mean using new technologies and renewable energies, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer behaviour.

Peat Restoration - Peatlands are considered degraded when they’ve been drained or subject to altered water flow. In a degraded state, the carbon stored in the peat is released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Peat soils can be restored by re-wetting or restoring the natural flow of water and soil saturation.  Sphagnum moss is the key to peat formation.  

Nature based solutions – Nature-based solutions (NBS or NbS) are defined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as, ‘actions to protect, sustainably manage, improve and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits’.

ERIC - Environmental Records Information Centre. We are working closely with them to digitise habitat information that previously was only in paper form.  We are also working with Northumberland Wildlife Trust who look after the Local Sites database.  

National Character Areas - (NCA) National Character Areas (NCAs) divide England into 159 distinct areas. Each is defined by a unique combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity, history, and cultural and economic activity.  NCA boundaries follow natural lines in the landscape, not county or district boundaries. 

Invasive non-native species - (INNS) Over 2,000 plants and animals have been introduced to Britain from all over the world by people. These are known as non-native species. Most are harmless, but around 10-15% become invasive non-native species which spread and have a harmful impact. Invasive non-native species are one of the top five drivers of global biodiversity loss.  They threaten the survival of native wildlife and damage our natural ecosystems, costing the British economy nearly £2 billion a year.  They can even harm our health and interfere with activities we enjoy.  

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