Work is starting to develop a new long-term strategy to recover, protect and enhance Staffordshire’s nature and wildlife.
Staffordshire County Council is one of 48 councils appointed nationally under the Environment Act 2021 and announced by DEFRA to lead the creation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS).
The authority will work closely with other councils, partner organisations and communities to identify priority areas for action.
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change, Cllr Simon Tagg, said:
“It is vital that we act now to recover and protect wildlife and nature and halt the decline of biodiversity in Staffordshire, playing our part in the UK-wide effort.
“We are fortunate to have a wonderful variety of wildlife, from red deer to red-tailed bumblebees, and amazing nature right on our doorstep. Nature is essential to human life and brings many benefits, such as providing clean water, reducing floods and pollinating our food.
“Our new role announced today goes hand in hand with our wider commitment to tackle climate change and will help ensure our countryside can recover and thrive.
“We are now looking forward to working with partners to shape a vision which will allow future generations to continue to benefit from and enjoy nature.”
Cllr Simon Tagg, Staffordshire County Council
LNRS are one of the government’s new nature recovery measures which will make an important contribution to ensuring national environmental targets and objectives are met, as well as local environmental priorities.
Natural England’s chair Tony Juniper said:
“Nature recovery must be locally led and delivered at scale if we are to create more, better, connected nature – rich habitats that enable wildlife to recover, move and thrive.
“Through these initiatives that support a growing national Nature Recovery Network, we can create natural landscapes which will capture carbon, mitigate extreme weather events and protect the health of people and wildlife.
“Natural England is proud to be supporting local authorities and their partners to develop Local Nature Recovery Strategies that meet the needs of local people and the landscapes in which they live.”
Tony Juniper, Natural England
