Reporting your biodiversity duty actions
As a local authority or local planning authority, when to publish your biodiversity report and what to include.
Applies to England
Your biodiversity report documents the policies and actions you’ve carried out to comply with your biodiversity duty.
The report communicates what your organisation is doing to improve the environment and to show the positive change you’re making.
Defra intends to include references to these reports in the 5-yearly reviews of the Environmental Improvement Plan.
Who must publish a report
Local authorities (excluding parish councils) and local planning authorities must publish a biodiversity report.
Other public authorities do not need to publish a report but must fulfil their biodiversity duty. Other public authorities may be required to publish a report in future. Defra will consult before these authorities are designated.
When to publish your report
The end date of your first reporting period should be no later than 1 January 2026.
After this, the end date of each reporting period must be within 5 years of the end date of the previous reporting period.
You must include the start and end dates of your reporting period in each report.
You must publish all reports within 12 weeks of the reporting period end date.
What to include in your report
By law, your report must include:
- a summary of the action you’ve taken to comply with the biodiversity duty
- how you plan to comply with the biodiversity duty in the next reporting period
- any other information you consider appropriate
Reports from local planning authorities must also include:
- the actions you’ve carried out to meet biodiversity net gain obligations
- details of biodiversity net gains resulting, or expected to result, from biodiversity gain plans you’ve approved
- how you plan to meet biodiversity net gain obligations in the next reporting period
Guidance on reporting on biodiversity net gain will be published when it is available.
You can set out the required information in any way that you choose or you can follow this example report structure.
Example report structure
This is an example structure.
You must provide the information in sections 1, 2, and 3.
If you are a local planning authority, you must also include information in the biodiversity net gain section.
All other sections are optional.
Section 1: Your policies, objectives and actions
You must include this information in your report.
Explain:
- the policies and objectives you have set to meet your biodiversity duty
- the actions you’ve completed, either alone or in partnership with others, that benefit biodiversity
Section 2: How you have considered other strategies
You must include this information in your report.
Explain how you’ve taken into account:
- local nature recovery strategies
- protected site strategies
- species conservation strategies
For example, include information about how:
- you’ve advised or worked in a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) partnership in your area
- these strategies influenced your policies, objectives or actions
Section 3: Your future actions
You must include this information in your report.
Explain how your organisation plans to fulfil your biodiversity duty over the 5 years following the end of this reporting period.
You can report your plans for future actions in each section of your report alongside the ones you’ve achieved.
Alternatively, you can summarise your plans for future actions separately. This will form part of your monitoring and evaluation as you can refer to this section in the next reporting period.
Biodiversity net gain information (for local planning authorities only)
You must include information on biodiversity net gain if you’re a local planning authority. This should be a separate section in your report.
As a local planning authority, you must include:
- a summary of the actions you’ve carried out to meet biodiversity net gain obligations
- details of biodiversity gains resulting, or expected to result, from biodiversity gain plans you’ve approved
- a summary of how you plan to meet biodiversity net gain obligations in the next reporting period
You can include quantitative data in this section of your report. It is optional, but it can add useful detail to your report.
In 2023, Defra will provide a suggested format for tabulating any quantitative data on biodiversity net gains you choose to include.
Optional information
Section 4: Information about your authority
This information is optional.
Explain the role and purpose of your authority. Include:
- a brief description of the authority’s functions
- the size of the authority
- an outline of its governance and management structures
Summarise how your authority can affect biodiversity, both positively and negatively, in relation to:
- land and estates you manage, including any protected areas and sites
- planning and development decisions
- advice you give
- raising awareness within the community
- how your operations affect the environment
Section 5: Your top achievements
This information is optional.
Give a summary of what you, as a local authority, have achieved in the reporting period:
- actions you’ve taken to conserve and enhance biodiversity
- achievements as a result of your actions
- actions you plan to take in the next reporting period
Section 6: How your policies and actions have helped
This information is optional.
Expand on section 2 by explaining how your policies, objectives and actions have:
- contributed to conserving, restoring or enhancing species populations or a particular habitat
- contributed to improving the condition of protected areas and sites
- benefitted biodiversity – noting the successes and challenges
- encouraged involvement in important partnerships such as local nature recovery strategies
- started to address the main causes of biodiversity loss – for example, land use changes, invasive non-native species, and wider pressures like pollution
For national park authorities, you could include information about how you have complied with the biodiversity duty in your management plan instead of doing a separate report. If you do this, your management plan must meet the legal requirements for biodiversity reporting outlined on this page.
For Local authorities, you could also include any action taken within the area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) in their biodiversity report. Where the boundaries of AONBs cross multiple local authorities, you should agree how to approach reporting together.
As a Local planning authority, you could include information on how complying with your biodiversity net gain obligations relate to other obligations. This could include the requirements of the environmental assessment regulations.
Add data to your report. For example, you could report hectares of raised bog restored or new woodland planted to enhance biodiversity.
Quantitative data can help you monitor and evaluate the results of your actions.
Quantitative data you could report includes:
- the condition of sites of special scientific interest from the latest assessment
- the result of monitoring you’ve carried out to fulfil the requirements of the environmental assessment regulations
- how many local sites within your local authority area have positive conservation management and information on its effectiveness
- areas of land you own or manage that include habitats of principal importance – you can find mapping data for habitats on the Magic Map.
Include boundary data for areas of land you own or manage that are important for biodiversity, such as land:
- where existing conservation measures or biodiversity management plans are in place
- where you’ve put new conservation measures in place, or changed them, over the reporting period
- that is also a local wildlife site or local nature reserve
Describe if land you own or manage is identified in local nature recovery strategies as:
- ‘areas that are of particular importance for biodiversity’
- ‘areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity’
- ‘areas where the recovery or enhancement of biodiversity could make a particular contribution to other environmental benefits’
Report changes you’ve made to management practices to increase the area’s importance for biodiversity, in line with the local nature recovery strategies.
Section 7: How you’ve raised awareness and educated the community
This information is optional.
Describe what you’ve done to:
- raise awareness of biodiversity in the community
- advise on how to conserve and enhance biodiversity
- incorporate conservation and enhancement of biodiversity into education
- engage with the public and your staff on biodiversity matters
Read about the actions you could take to fulfil your biodiversity duty.
Section 8: Monitoring and evaluating your actions
This information is optional.
Explain how you’ve measured your actions and how you’ve assessed their effects on biodiversity. If you have not monitored your activities, explain why.
Where you can, report on how you monitored and evaluated:
- the way you recorded biodiversity on land you own or manage
- your contribution to meeting national and international biodiversity targets
- your biodiversity programmes or projects, done either alone or in partnership with others
- the way you implemented relevant strategies or policies
- physical conditions like soil and water quality
- any relevant environmental assessments you’re responsible for, such as the strategic environmental assessment of the local plan, or local transport, minerals, or waste plans
- your organisation’s capability or development relating to biodiversity
Report on any significant trends or areas of concern you’ve found. For example, if you notice:
- changes to the conservation status of habitats you manage or deliver programmes to protect
- changes to the ecological health of land you own or manage
- adverse recordings of water or soil quality
- increases or decreases in the number and type of species present
Section 9: Biodiversity highlights and challenges
This section is optional.
At the end of the report, explain your main achievements for biodiversity over the reporting period.
For example, include where you have:
- led or contributed to projects that support the biodiversity outcomes and targets in the Environmental Improvement Plan or international targets
- demonstrated leadership or expertise in relation to biodiversity
- improved habitats or ecological status
- found notable species on land you manage or own
- completed important biodiversity projects
- delivered or achieved funding grants
- run volunteer days
- provided successful education or public engagement activities
Explain what you think the main challenges will be over the next 5 years. These challenges could include:
- economic and resource pressures
- delivering cross-cutting actions
- preventing further loss of habitats and species
- effective management of invasive non-native species
- pressures for space
- the need to meet targets