Island Nature - The Isle of Wight LNRS

By now, 2024, you may have come across this statement... Nature across the country is in crisis, with a drastic and unprecedented decline in biodiversity and habitat loss. The only good news here that this is finally, actually in the news, although still not making headlines! Over the past 25 years, the UK has witnessed a disturbing trend of nature collapse, and is one of the worst-ranking countries for biodiversity in the world... and it has been for a while (that's why we chose to do our jobs!). In response to this crisis, the Government via DEFRA and Natural England are working with every county in England to create statutory Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) as part of the legal requirement of the Environment Act 2021.

The Isle of Wight is home to over 5,000 hectares of semi-natural habitats and 15,000 recorded species. Half of the land surface is designated as a National Landscape and the entire Island, including its coastline, inshore waters and the Solent, is classified as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

The Isle of Wight Council has asked our team at Arc Biodiversity & Climate Ltd to assist with the creation of the LNRS on the Island. Island Nature is the LNRS for the whole of the Isle of Wight and its inshore waters, drawing together experience and expertise from regulators, residents, farming, forestry and landowner communities, land managers, businesses, community groups and environmental organisations et al, to shape positive change for wildlife. The strategy will be published by spring 2025, with consultation to take place on a draft in late 2024.

A draft species and habitats priority list is currently being drawn up after concentrated engagement with a huge range of stakeholders across the Island. The Island Nature survey has been live and widely publicised all year and mapping is under way. Proposed actions and delivery, recording and monitoring recovery, funding streams, knowledge-sharing and support will follow. The Isle of Wight's UNESCO Biosphere reserve designation and principles will help inform and underpin this growing Island-wide community of active partners.

Together with the production of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, the Environment Act 2021 also brings with it an ‘enhanced biodiversity duty’. Public authorities who operate in England must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity.

A holistic and disciplined approach is essential to effect positive change – the recovery of our natural environment is core to the Island’s economic resilience and our health and wellbeing. As well as helping to guide nature-based farm revenues and natural asset finance systems such as Biodiversity Net Gain, the LNRS will work alongside other council plans including the Island Planning Strategy (and planning decision-making with regard to wildlife and habitats), the Mission Zero Climate & Environment Strategy and the Local Transport Plan.

Since 2000, the Island has lost at least 20 species to local extinctions and there are still more in steep decline. There are of course great successes too, the reintroduction of white-tailed eagles, and the increased understanding of the extraordinary biological richness of our sea grass ecosystems, but the fact remains that Island biodiversity faces growing pressures, and we must act together to protect and rebuild our exceptional ecological foundations.

For more information on the Isle of Wight Local Nature Recovery Strategy, visit www.islandnature.org.

How Can You Have Your Say?

There is still time to help shape the first edition of this new plan for Island wildlife. The plan will help coordinate existing and future wildlife projects and funnel funding to where it is needed most.

• Plot a site on the Island Nature Map - help us identify the areas that could become of importance for nature using our Mapping Tool.
• Find out more about the Island’s nature on the Story Map.
• Have your say in the Island Nature Survey and/or the?Landowner Survey.
• If you work or manage specific Island habitats you can request access to the online whiteboard which contains summaries of the habitat topic workshops (email us on [email protected]).

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