Policy paper

The Nature Recovery Network

Updated 16 February 2024

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to England

The Nature Recovery Network is a growing national network of wildlife-rich places, stretching from our cities to countryside, mountains to coast. It is supported by green and blue spaces that buffer and connect these wildlife-rich sites.  

What growing the Nature Recovery Network seeks to achieve  

The Nature Recovery Network is central to the government’s ‘apex goal’ of improving nature, taking us from protection to active restoration of the natural world. By creating more wildlife-rich places that are bigger, better and joined-up, Defra, Natural England and our partners seek to help address the 3 challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, and public health and well-being.   

Growing the Nature Recovery Network includes action to:  

• enhance sites designated for nature conservation and other wildlife-rich places  
• create and restore wildlife-rich habitats, corridors and stepping-stones that help wildlife populations to recover, grow, move, thrive and adapt to a changing climate  
• improve the natural and urban environment’s resilience to climate change, providing natural solutions to reduce carbon emissions and manage flood risk 
• sustain vital ecosystems that provide healthy soil, clean water and clean air 
• protect the natural, geological, historical and cultural diversity of the natural environment 
• provide more, better green spaces for us to enjoy and connect with nature where we live, work and play, improving our health and wellbeing 

Legislation supporting nature recovery  

The Environment Act 2021 sets out legally binding targets for the natural environment and establishes important legal requirements and mechanisms to enable the government’s goals for nature recovery. These include the: 

• publication of an Environmental Improvement Plan that must be revised every 5 years. This provides an action plan to deliver the government’s environmental ambitions 
• introduction of a new, England-wide system of local nature recovery strategies that will agree priorities and work with partners and stakeholders to map actions for nature recovery where they will have the greatest environmental benefit 
• creation of duties and incentives for land managers, developers and local planning authorities to take action for nature recovery, including biodiversity net gain, protected site strategies, species conservation strategies and conservation covenants 
• strengthening of the biodiversity duty on public bodies in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 

Government targets that support the network  

Collective work to grow the Nature Recovery Network is helping Defra and Natural England to meet Environment Act 2021 and Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 targets and commitments.  

These include commitments to: 

• protect and effectively manage 30% of England’s land and sea for nature by 2030 
• halt species decline by 2030 
• increase species abundance by at least 10%, to exceed 2022 levels by 2042 
• restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites by 2042 
• restore or create 140,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats outside protected sites by 2028, compared to 2022 levels 
• reduce the risk of species extinction in England by 2042, compared to 2022 levels 
• restore 75% of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites to favourable condition by 2042 
• ensure all sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) have an up-to-date condition assessment, with 50% of SSSIs on track to achieve favourable condition by 31 January 2028 
• increase tree canopy and woodland cover from 14.5% to 16.5% of total land area in England by 2050 
• increase tree canopy and woodland cover by 0.26% by 31 January 2028 
• ensure that 70% of designated features in marine protected areas are in favourable condition by 2042, with the remainder in recovering condition 
• ensure that 48% of designated features in marine protected areas are in favourable condition by 31 January 2028 
• help the UK reach net zero emissions by 2050 
• launch another 13 Nature Recovery Projects across England by 2025, adding to the 12 already launched 
• establish another 25 National Nature Reserves by 2027 
• contribute to environmental, economic and social improvements such as carbon capture, flood management, clean water, clean air, healthy soil, pollination and recreation 
• improve access to nature, working across government to ensure that everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space 

The government has also set a cross-cutting target around private sector finance to support nature recovery. The aim is to reach £500 million a year by 2027 and over £1 billion a year by 2030. This ambition will build on existing public sector funding commitments and help to close the recognised finance gap for delivering our nature recovery ambitions.  

Growing the network  

Growing the network involves: 

• prioritising and mapping actions – with local nature recovery strategies at the centre 
• aligning policies, delivery levers and funding streams – to better achieve priorities, including planning policy and practice, biodiversity net gain, funding mechanisms and Natural England’s delivery on the ground  
• collaborating – to develop supportive partnerships to use these tools and deliver action for nature 

Defra and Natural England will be tracking progress, including at the local nature recovery strategy level, to monitor delivery of targets and broader people and climate objectives. 

Prioritising and mapping actions  

Local nature recovery strategies are central to targeting action for nature recovery. They are legislated for in the Environment Act 2021 and locally led by responsible authorities in collaboration with public, private and voluntary sectors. These sectoral groups work together to agree what should be done to recover nature and map proposed actions.  

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has appointed 48 responsible authorities to lead on preparing the local nature recovery strategy for their area. These cover the whole of England, with no gaps or overlaps.  

Access a map of local nature recovery strategies in England.

Each local nature recovery strategy will propose actions in locations that, when implemented, will contribute to expanding and growing the Nature Recovery Network. These include improving, expanding or connecting existing areas of importance for nature. 

This national system of locally led strategies is designed to encourage more coordinated and practical action for nature.  Each strategy will provide a spatial planning framework to inform nature recovery, and target action and investment, aligning different delivery levers and funding sources. 

Aligning policies, delivery levers and funding streams  

The government is providing a range of funding streams, policies and delivery levers to support nature recovery, which local nature recovery strategies will be able to help target. These include: 

• a requirement to ‘take account’ of local nature recovery strategies at all tiers of planning 
• biodiversity net gain – a requirement to ensure that development makes a measurably positive impact (net gain) to biodiversity. Major developments are required to deliver a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain from 12 February 2024. This requirement will extend to smaller sites from 2 April 2024 
• schemes that reward environmental land management, such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship, and Landscape Recovery 
• the Green Infrastructure Framework, including standards that aim to drive the greening of our towns and cities as part of the Nature Recovery Network 
• the £640 million Nature for Climate Fund – to create, restore and manage woodland and peatland, triple afforestation rates across England, and restore 35,000 hectares of peatland by 2025 
• funds to halt species decline, including Defra’s £25 million Species Survival Fund 
• Natural England’s £18 million Species Recovery Programme 
• initiatives to support the delivery of the government’s target for private sector investment into nature  

Nature recovery leads to an increase in the value of our natural capital assets, such as our woodlands, peatlands and wetlands. These assets provide of a range of ‘ecosystem services’ that benefit people and the economy, such as clean air and water, fertile soil and pollination, climate mitigation and adaptation, and public wellbeing. 

Private nature markets are developing for these services (particularly carbon sequestration, biodiversity, water quality and flood mitigation), which are generating new flows of finance into nature restoration. 

Green Finance Strategy  

Defra is committed to broadening the funding and finance base for nature recovery, as outlined in the government’s Green Finance Strategy. 

This strategy: 

• seeks to encourage private investment to restore nature to help meet the government’s climate and environmental objectives 
• supports the government’s ambition of raising at least £500 million a year of private finance for nature by 2027 and over £1 billion a year by 2030 
• sets out how the government will encourage green finance for nature-based solutions such as tree planting and nature restoration 
• supports farmers to access new private sector revenue streams while protecting our environment  

The Nature Markets Framework seeks to establish a nature investment standards programme to guide and stimulate the development of high integrity markets for benefits provided by nature, such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity, nutrient neutrality and flood mitigation.  This will support the scaling up of private investment into nature recovery and sustainable farming.  

Nature markets enable farmers and land managers to sell carbon and other ecosystem services.  Defra is supporting initiatives that help to build capacity, so that farmers, land managers and local authorities can engage with nature markets.  

Defra initiatives to support green finance ambitions include:  

• the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund to support innovative projects to attract private finance  
• 4 Local Investment in Natural Capital (LINC) programme pilots, testing what works in attracting private finance for local investment priorities 
• working with the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop a range of nature investment standards beyond existing initiatives such as the Woodland Carbon Code and the Peatland Code  
• the Big Nature Impact Fund  

Collaborating 

To grow the Nature Recovery Network, Natural England is supporting and developing new and existing partnerships across a wide range of sectors, using all available tools and incentives.  Locally this will be led by local nature recovery strategies. The Nature Recovery Network Delivery Partnership has been established to grow understanding, develop sectoral insight and help support join-up nationally. 

Nature Recovery Network Delivery Partnership 

Defra and Natural England have set up the cross-sectoral Nature Recovery Network Delivery Partnership to support collaborative action for nature recovery, helping to inform, expand and strengthen the network. Natural England is the lead partner, and the wider partnership includes government, landowners, land managers, businesses, local communities, conservation groups and individuals.  Organisations in any sector that are willing to commit to nature’s recovery can join this partnership. Everyone has a part to play in supporting the growth of the Nature Recovery Network through sharing skills, knowledge and resources, such as: 

• land for nature recovery 
• financial investment 
• advice, time or expertise 
• input into local nature recovery strategies in areas where partnership members have an interest or presence 

Partners have access to Nature Recovery Network conferences, workshops and meetings. 

Nature Recovery Network Delivery Partnership management group 

The Nature Recovery Network Delivery Partnership is supported by the partnership management group. This is led by Natural England and supported by Defra, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission. Comprising a wide range of sectoral representatives, it oversees the delivery partnership and provides strategic leadership. 

The management group is made up of the following government organisations: 

• Crown Estates 
• Defra 
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero  
• Department for Health and Social Care 
• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities 
• Department for Transport 
• Environment Agency 
• Forestry Commission 
• Forestry England 
• Historic England 
• Ministry of Defence 
• Ministry of Justice 
• National Health Service Estates 
• Natural England 
• Rural Payments Agency 

Sectoral representatives include: 

• British Association for Shooting and Conservation 
• British Ecological Society 
• Butterfly Conservation 
• Canal and River Trust 
• Care Quality Commission 
• Confederation of Forest Industries 
• Council for Sustainable Business 
• Country Land and Business Association 
• Friends of the Earth 
• Geodiversity UK 
• Green Finance Institute 
• Home Builders Federation 
• Local Government Association 
• National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty 
• National Farmers’ Union 
• National Grid 
• National Parks England 
• Network Rail 
• Plantlife 
• Rethink Nature 
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 
• Water UK 
• Wild in the City 
• Wildlife Trusts 
• Woodland Trust 

How to become a partner 

If you are interested in driving nature recovery by becoming a Nature Recovery Network delivery partner, email NDPNaturerecovery@naturalengland.org.uk.