County Hall Committee To Review Major Nature Recovery Plan

Corporate Scrutiny Committee members will this evening review the Isle of Wight’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).

Once officially published, the plan will lay out biodiversity and nature recovery priorities and actions for the Island which council decision makers and other stakeholders will be able to refer to.

It contains two main elements: a statement of biodiversity priorities and a local habitat map.

The statement includes a description of the Isle of Wight and its current biodiversity, opportunities and key priorities for biodiversity recovery or enhancement and measures that can be taken to put the priorities into practice.

Included in the local habitat map are the Island’s national conservation sites and other environmentally significant sites.

“The UK has experienced significant biodiversity decline and habitat loss over the past 25 years with many everyday species we often believe to be common, such as starlings and sparrows, frogs or slow worms, under threat,” an officer report said.

“In the summer of 2023, the Isle of Wight Council was appointed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as the ‘Responsible Authority (RA)’ for the preparation of a LNRS for the Isle of Wight.

“The completion of a nationwide suite of LNRS’s is a key output from the 2021 Environment Act.

“The Isle of Wight Council commissioned Island-based company Arc Biodiversity & Climate to help prepare the LNRS for the island.

"A project team was established that included representatives from the council, the IOW National Landscape, Arc and Natural England.

“The Isle of Wight Biodiversity Partnership (which has been in existence for over 20 years) operated as the LNRS Steering Group and includes representation from a wide range of stakeholders representing community, environmental, economic and cultural Island interests.”

The cabinet is due to vote on the LNRS on Thursday, before it goes to Full Council for a final vote.