Nature Recovery Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateTrudy Harrison
Main Page: Trudy Harrison (Conservative - Copeland)Department Debates - View all Trudy Harrison's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(1 year, 1 month ago)
Written StatementsI am repeating the statement made last Friday by my noble Friend the Minister, Lord Benyon. Local Nature Recovery Strategy Responsible Authority Planned total LNRS funding for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 Buckinghamshire Council £238,000 Cambridgeshire an Peterborough Combined Authority £307,974 Central Bedfordshire Council £238,000 Cheshire West and Chester Council £314,299 Cornwall Council £343,692 Derbyshire County Council £375,342 Devon County Council £388,000 Dorset Council £257,647 Durham County Council £238,000 East Riding of Yorkshire Council £240,747 East Sussex County Council £300,740 Essex County Council £379,987 Gateshead Council £238,000 Gloucestershire County Council £271,350 Greater London Authority £238,000 Greater Manchester Combined Authority £255,535 Hampshire County Council £388,000 Herefordshire Council £238,000 Hertfordshire County Council £240,793 Isle of White Council £238,000 Kent County Council £381,784 Lancashire County Council £388,000 Leicestershire County Council £337,741 Lincolnshire County Council £388,000 Liverpool City Region Combined Authority £238,000 Norfolk County Council £333,020 North Northamptonshire Council £238,000 North of Tyne Combined Authority £285,498 North Yorkshire Council £388,000 Nottinghamshire County Council £285,268 Oxfordshire County Council £238,000 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead £238,000 Shropshire Council £320,921 Somerset Council £310,000 South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority £241,265 Staffordshire County Council £388,000 Suffolk County Council £282,108 Surrey County Council £254,844 Tees Valley Mayoral Combined Authority £242,285 Warwickshire County Council £238,000 West Midlands Combined Authority £238,000 West Northamptonshire Council £238,000 West of England Combined Authority £243,909 West Sussex County Council £255,464 West Yorkshire Combined Authority £296,911 Westmorland and Furness Council £388,000 Wiltshire Council £277,813 Worcestershire County Council £253,618 Total £13,938,555
The Government are committed to delivering large scale, widespread nature recovery across England. We depend on nature for everything—from food, water, and resources to the places we go when we need to relax and recharge—but over the last century, the state of nature in our country has declined dramatically.
Our environmental improvement plan, published in January 2023, set out how we will continue to help nature to recover and thrive. We committed to doing more to restore the vital habitats that support a huge variety of species, which will help us deliver the ambitious biodiversity targets we have set under the Environment Act 2021.
Local nature recovery strategies will be key to our drive to restore nature. The 48 responsible authorities, announced today, will lead on the preparation of localised, tailored strategies to support and recover nature, using the best of local expertise in the community. These responsible authorities, supported by £14 million of Government funding, will now begin to engage across their areas to prepare the strategies, working closely with landowners, farmers and land managers. Regulations and statutory guidance setting out the process responsible authorities must follow and what they should include in the strategies was published in March 2023. Delivery of the proposals set out in a local nature recovery strategy will not be directly required but will instead be encouraged by a combination of financial incentives, the support of local delivery partners and broad requirements on public bodies.
Alongside local nature recovery strategies, which will support long-term planning for nature, the first round of the species survival fund opens today with an initial £25 million available to projects that will help drive the action we need to halt the decline in species.
Taken hand in hand, the species survival fund and local nature recovery strategies provide opportunities, both in the shorter and longer term, for new and innovative projects to make a real difference, so that communities across England can contribute to nature recovery.
This Government are proud of their extensive record on nature and climate. These measures are the latest of many to protect the environment. In just the last six months, we have:
Set legally binding targets to protect our environment, clean up our air and rivers and boost nature
Announced our environmental improvement plan which sets out delivery plan for building a greener, more prosperous country
Announced nearly £30 million to support developing countries in delivering the “30by30” land target
Announced the £5 million for projects which showcase the incredible work under way to study and restore nature across our network of overseas territories
DEFRA Ministers attended the G7 Meeting on climate, energy and the environment in Sapporo, Japan. The G7 leaders agreed a joint statement to tackle global nature loss
Hosted a major multinational event at Lancaster House in London to drive forward action on the COP15
Provided the £16 million of funding for local authorities to support plans to make new housing, industrial or commercial developments “nature friendly”
Published the draft border target operating model setting out the UK Government’s plan to strengthen our borders against biosecurity threats and illegal imports
Launched a new climate change hub for the forestry sector
Secured a landmark deal for nature at COP15 in Montreal to protect 30% of our land and ocean by 2030
Provided England’s national parks with an additional £4.4 million to support services such as visitor centres and park rangers
Handed over the COP presidency at the COP27 summit in Egypt as we work to tackle climate change and reverse biodiversity loss
Launched the new green finance strategy and the nature markets framework to develop the growth of green finance
Announced £110 million of funding for communities allocated under the rural England
prosperity fund.
Announced a ban this week on the sale of peat-based products in the retail horticultural sector by 2024
Re-opened grants to boost domestic tree production with £5 million available for free and seed suppliers
Provided £500,000 to our delivery partners of The Queen’s Green Canopy to fund the planting of trees in communities across the country
Published the plant biosecurity strategy
Introduced new powers, including unlimited fines and prison sentences, as part of a crackdown on illegal tree felling in England
Launched the Great Britain invasive non-native species strategy
Opened this year’s round of the tree health pilot—a three-year scheme which tests different ways of slowing the spread of tree pests and diseases as well as building the resilience of trees across England
Made £14 million available to allow both local authorities and community groups to access funds for new tree-planting projects
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