Agenda item

Resolved:

(1)  The Responsible Authority role of the West Midlands Combined Authority in the delivery of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy was endorsed.

(2)  The progress of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s work on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy was noted.

The board considered a report and received a presentation from the Local Nature Recovery Strategy Co-ordinator to provide an update on the progress of the WMCA’s Environment Team’s work on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and what the outcomes would be from the project.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategies were spatial strategies for nature and environmental improvement, required by law under the Environment Act 2021.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategies were explicitly regional in their scope, with a clear purpose of connecting nature recovery opportunities across boundaries to create a Nature Recovery Network across the entirety of England.  They were also explicitly collaborative in their approach, involving public, private and voluntary sectors, working particularly with local authorities.  The Local Nature Recovery Strategy Regulations identified local authorities and in the case of the West Midlands region (the seven constituent local authorities in the West Midlands Combined Authority area) as ‘Statutory Authorities’ as having a key role in the development of the Local Nature Recovery Strategies.

Each Local Nature Recovery Strategy would need to ensure the following:

·       agree priorities for nature’s recovery;

·       map the most valuable existing areas for nature; and

·       map specific proposals for creating or improving habitat for nature and wider environmental goals (adopting Nature Based Solutions).

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy would also help guide wider environmental and societal benefits through nature recovery such as air quality, flood risk, climate vulnerability, reverse species loss and restore habitats, deprivation and access to nature. 

Across the West Midlands Combined Authority constituent authorities, much work had already been undertaken to map nature and develop strategies for nature recovery to support planning processes.  This work and the knowledge developed by the constituent authorities at the local level, as well as stakeholder engagement, would form a strong basis from which a whole region strategy could be created.  Rather than undermine existing local strategies, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy would provide a broader regional framework recognising that natures does not stop at authority boundaries. As this was a statutory requirement contributing to a national network, would therefore provide greater strength to local based actions and a framework to assist in attracting public and private sector finance.      

There was no published deadline for the delivery of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, but the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs had confirmed funding would be provided until March 2025, when the aim was for the WMCA to publish the final strategy. 

Councillor Mahmood welcomed the report as noted the mapping would form the base for local authorities to input their priorities for core ecological networks and opportunity areas that would prove valuable over the coming months, however queried that the financial implications of the report only noted funding to the WMCA and not toward local authority officer’s supporting.

In response to Councillor Hughes who noted that the report did not emphasise the involvement of local and community groups enough to support the initial development of the strategies, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy Co-ordinator emphasised the importance role of these groups and that the strategy itself was at a regional level, building up to a national level that fed-in from local level’s where a lot of actions would come from and that as part of the timeline would include public engagement and consultation.            

Resolved:

(1)  The Responsible Authority role of the West Midlands Combined Authority in the delivery of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy be endorsed.

(2)  The progress of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s work on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy be noted.