A public consultation has been launched to gather the public’s views on the draft nature strategy, which will set priorities for wildlife, habitat, and biodiversity in Hampshire.
The Secretary of State appointed Hampshire County Council as the responsible authority for preparing a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for the region.
The county council is working with partners, including Portsmouth and Southampton city councils and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, to set up the project.
In England, 48 LNRS will be produced, including ones produced by Hampshire County Council and the Isle of Wight Council.
The LNRS is a package of measures introduced by the Environment Act to reverse nature’s decline. These include Environmental Improvement Plans, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Species Conservation Strategies, Protected Sites Strategies, and conservation covenants.
Each strategy will map the most valuable habitat for nature, create a ‘map proposal’ to improve habitat for wildlife and broader environmental goals, agree on priorities and targets for nature’s recovery, and support the delivery of extended ecological objectives.
The strategy will identify opportunities for using nature-based solutions to address environmental issues such as flooding, climate change mitigation, adaptation, and poor water quality.
It will also help determine how farming and land management funding will be used.
The public consultation on the draft Strategy is running until June 23, 2025.
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