Frequently asked questions
FAQs will be updated as required – last updated 20th February 2025.
If there is something you have a question on, that isn’t yet detailed, please contact the team on makingspacefornature@kent.gov.uk
The elements of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy explained
Answering your questions on why we’ve developed a nature recovery strategy, what the strategy includes and its purpose.
- Why have the government instructed the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies?
England is widely considered to be one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world following historic and ongoing declines. In 2022, targets to protect our environment, clean up our air and rivers and boost nature were published. These legally-binding commitments pledged to end the decline of nature and for nature to recover. These commitments acknowledged that such action was required not just for nature’s sake but also for all the services that we rely on nature for.
Recognising that any recovery of nature would need targeted, co-ordinated and collaborative action the Environment Act 2021 set in place a requirement for the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS).
- What is a Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
- Legal requirement resulting from the Environment Act, 2021.
- There will be 48 strategies covering the whole of England, with no gaps or overlaps.
- To ensure a consistent and joined up approach to their development, LNRS preparation is led by regulations and statutory guidance. Their preparation is funded by a Defra grant.
- Developed at a landscape scale and locally prepared by an appointed responsible authority – in this case Kent County Council.
- Collaboratively prepared.
- Local nature recovery strategies will agree priorities for nature recovery and propose actions in the locations where it would make a particular contribution to achieving those priorities.
- What does the Kent and Medway Local Nature Recovery Strategy provide?
- Set of agreed priorities for nature recovery, with measures to deliver.
- Shared vision for nature recovery and the use of nature-based solutions in Kent and Medway.
- Framework for joined-up action, developed with those that will be instrumental in its delivery.
- Ambitious but realistic and deliverable plan, linked to supporting mechanisms and finance.
- Spatially framed strategy for nature – focusing action to where its most needed and will deliver the greatest benefits.
- What does the Kent and Medway Local Nature Recovery Strategy include?
The Kent and Medway LNRS is presented in two documents and the online mapping tool:
- Part 1, providing a background to the strategy, its preparation and an overview of the strategy area. Essentially the context and justification for the nature recovery priorities of the Strategy.
- Part 2, setting out the Strategy’s ambitions – the priorities for nature recovery, the potential measures that will help deliver these and the areas of focus for this action – the areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity.
- Online mapping tool – the Strategy’s maps, presenting:
- where potential measures could be delivered
- the areas of particular importance for biodiversity – areas currently afforded protection and/or management.
- areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity – targeted opportunity areas for nature recovery.
- local habitat map – by viewing both the areas of particular importance for biodiversity and areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity together, the local habitat map, and therefore Kent and Medway’s areas of strategic significance.
- What is the purpose of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
- Direct action and investment to areas where it is most needed and will derive the greatest benefits.
- Steer losses and impacts away from the county’s most valuable natural assets.
- Maximise the opportunities for development, land use and land management to make a positive contribution nature recovery.
- Why is Kent County Council spending money on the development of this strategy when cutting other services?
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy has been entirely funded by a Defra grant – all costs associated have been covered by the grant from central government.
The strategy is not a Kent County Council strategy – the authority was simply the authority responsible for preparing it in consultation with partners and stakeholders.
- Is this a Kent County Council Strategy - will the County Council be responsible for its delivery?
The strategy is not a Kent County Council strategy – the authority was simply the authority responsible for preparing it in consultation with partners and stakeholders.
Our appointment was by Defra and the Secretary of State. Kent County Council was provided with a grant to develop the strategy.
The strategy is the county’s – the purpose of the wide participation of stakeholders and partners was to ensure endorsement and adoption. Delivery of the strategy’s priorities will be by a multitude of partners and will require collaborative working.
There is no “responsibility” for delivery – the strategy serves to direct action for nature in respect of what is most needed and where it is most needed – there is no onus to take action.
Delivery, monitoring and review/update of the strategy will need a coordinating body. We await guidance from Defra on who will assume this responsibility and how this will be resourced.
- How has the strategy been developed with stakeholders?
Participatory development was key to the development of the strategy, enabling it to be:
- Based on most up to date data and evidence.
- Developed with the input of experts.
- Informed by those with local knowledge and practical experience.
- Transparent process.
Across 20 workshops and many other activities and events well over 1,000 people have helped to define the priorities for nature recovery, identify the measures required and locate where this action would have the best effect.
In addition to these routes for stakeholder participation, there was also the more formal delivery structure of the strategy, which included:
- Board and Delivery Group
- Supporting Authorities Group (LPAs)
- Dedicated advisors from Natural England, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission
- Technical Advisory Groups:
- Data, evidence and mapping
- Species recovery
- Land management and land use
- Freshwater
- Coastal
- Communications
- I'm concerned about the implications of the Strategy for me - how will it effect me?
What the strategy will and will not do:
Will not draw localised, detailed or definitive boundaries but will identify areas where action is likely to provide the greatest gains.
Will not dictate actions or instruct their implementation but will identify potential measures that could be taken to support the recovery of nature.
Will not force landowners and managers to make changes to the way they use and manage the land or their operations but will incentivise action by linking delivery of the strategy priorities to a wide range of government grants and funding.
Will not offer statutory protection land or prevent development from happening but will inform future local plans, in terms of land use planning, and inform development management, in relation to biodiversity net gain.
- Documents and links you might find helpful
The vision, ambitions, priorities and measures explained
Answering your questions on the different elements of the Strategy what the different maps present and their development.
- What is the purpose of the LNRS principles?
The strategy principles set out what is required from our natural landscape if nature is to recover. Based on the Lawton Principles, these are:
- Better – improve the quality of our existing habitats and ensure they are in a healthy and functioning state; better conserve and safeguard what we already have.
- Bigger – increase the size of our most valuable and important habitat sites.
- More – establish new, nature-rich sites that not only provide more space for nature but also provide connectivity between existing core sites.
- Joined up – enhance connections between, and join up, sites.
- Nature based solutions – work with nature and use natural processes to tackle some of the socio-economic challenges our county faces.
- Land management and land use – role of private landowners, land managers and farmers in delivering a better, more coherent and resilient wildlife network.
All the strategy’s potential measures are designed to deliver against these principles.
- What is the purpose of the LNRS vision?
When we started reviewing the outcomes there were clear, emerging high level ambitions centred around broad habitat groupings and also connectivity, nature based solutions, land management and species.
These were therefore used to develop 10 ambitions that together make up the LNRS vision. Under each of these, sit more specific priorities, many of which drill down to specific habitat types.
These ambitions focussed on:
- Increasing the functional connectivity of high quality habitats.
- Increasing the use of nature-based solutions to environmental and societal challenges.
- Land management and land use increasingly delivering nature recovery gains.
- Species at the heart of habitat management, restoration, extension and creation.
- Restoring, connecting and extending species-rich grassland.
- Safeguarding successional habitats from loss and damage.
- Bringing woodland, trees and hedgerows under active management and increasing cover and connectivity.
- Ensuring freshwater habitats are clean, sufficient and healthy and restoring catchments’ functions.
- Providing for nature in urban environments.
- Securing high functioning, natural and connected coastal habitats.
- There's a lot of words in the ambitions but what do they really mean - what is the vision for nature in Kent and Medway?
Strategic documents can just seem like a load of words that might not mean a huge amount to you. To help everyone better understand what all these words really mean, art work was commissioned to illustrate these so much better than the text can – this artwork will be joining us on the consultation roadshow as we travel around the county, so please come and have a look.
Have a look at the artwork online
- What's are the strategy's priorities?
Sitting under the 10 ambitions are more detailed priorities which outline the outcome we want to see for nature in Kent and Medway. There are 52 priorities in the Strategy many of which drill down to specific habitat types.
Priorities were developed with stakeholders through a series of workshops, focusing on outcomes that tackled the county’s most notable pressures and challenges and supported delivery of local and national ambition against our most significant, important and/or at risk habitats.
The Strategy also identifies priority species that action should be focused on – there are 141 priority species from across all taxa, selected not only on the basis of need and urgency but also in consideration of whether action for them would also support the recovery of other species associated with their habitat assemblage.
- What is a potential measure?
Sitting under each of the 52 priorities are a number of potential measures – these being the proposed action to deliver the priority, targeted to where it will deliver the greatest gains and benefits.
Potential measures deliver against one of the 6 principles of better, bigger, more, connected, nature-based solutions and land management.
- Why aren't the social aspects of the natural environment considered and featured within the priorities?
The social/human dimensions of nature conservation do not heavily feature in the strategy because they sit outside the LNRS scope, which requires the strategy to only focus on actions relate to habitats and species. Within the strategy, there are some “supporting measures” identified (which are not withing the LNRS delivery scope but are included for context) that relate to the societal links to nature. Some of the potential measures mapping has looked to maximise the wider benefits, including access to nature and the health and wellbeing advantages this can bring.
However, there is a noticeable gap between the Kent Biodiversity Strategy, which dedicated a quarter of the ambitions to connection with nature, to the LNRS which places this as a benefit rather than a dedicated aim. And the LNRS will supersede the Kent Biodiversity Strategy. The Kent Nature Partnership is considering this and looking at how this gap can be filled, to make sure that the priorities and opportunities relating to this are not missed.
- How come the measures don’t have quantifying targets?
The strategy is directed by Defra and Natural England and devised following statutory guidance. Responsible authorities have been told not to include targets in the local nature recovery strategy.
We recognise that this is an important missing element in terms of allowing the strategy to monitor its progress – and will be particularly important at review and revision. Once the strategy is published, Kent’s delivery partners for nature recovery will need to consider if and how we feel this gap.
- There are 52 priorities, which is a long list. Is there going to be some kind of prioritising of the priorities?
The priorities have been streamlined, starting with an initial list of over 800 outcomes that stakeholders wanted to see for nature.
Whilst there will be no further refinement of the priorities in terms of numbers, we will look to prioritise further the potential measures in terms of where they are targeted to. There are locations where there is more than one potential measure mapped. This was deliberate, so that no opportunity for nature recovery was missed and that broad areas consider a range of habitats, to create the mosaic that nature recovery needs. However we appreciate that this could then be confusing for landowners, as to which action should be taken. We will therefore be looking to offer a steer on which actions should be prioritised and how to determine this.
