Local Nature Recovery Strategy

We will be working on producing the Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Surrey with Surrey County Council as the Responsible Authority. We are have received the updated LNRS guidance from DEFRA.

The delivery of LNRS will be through existing and new programmes of funding along with private sector funding from development, for example:

Surrey County Council are anticipating being appointed as Responsible Authority in May / June 2023.  See SCC for the latest position

Biodiversity Opportunity Areas 

Biodiversity Opportunity Areas (BOAs) are extensive areas where improved habitat management, as well as efforts to restore and re-create Priority habitats will be most effective in enhancing connectivity to benefit recovery of Priority species in a fragmented landscape. They are therefore the basis for achieving Sir John Lawton’s vision of a “coherent and resilient ecological network” in Surrey. Specialist guidance for strategic planners includes the document below, which provides useful contextual information on Surrey’s BOAs and prescribes their specific use in strategic planning. Appendices profile each individual BOA as a ‘Policy Statement’, grouped by their National Character Areas.

Biodiversity Opportunity Areas: the basis for realising Surrey’s ecological network, September 2019 (revised); (includes Appendices 1 & 2)  Appendix 3: Thames Valley Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements    Appendix 4: Thames Basin Heaths Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements Appendix 5: Thames Basin Lowlands Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements Appendix 6: North Downs Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements       Appendix 7: Wealden Greensands Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements Appendix 8: Low Weald Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements  Appendix 9: River Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements   Appendix 10: Biodiversity Opportunity Area Objectives & Targets Summary

South East Regional Opportunity Area mapping methodology (SEEBF 2008)

The forthcoming Environment Bill is likely to place a requirement on appropriate authorities to identify, map and protect their respective section of a national ‘Nature Recovery Network‘, or NRN.  The paper below has been produced to prepare us for this in Surrey and to explain the role and potential relationship of our Biodiversity Opportunity Areas with the government’s aspiration to establish a country-wide NRN:  Surrey in the national Nature Recovery Network (February 2020)

We have just produced a report summarising the progress made towards the BOA objective targets, between 2011 and 2020. This is available as a download; Biodiversity Action Reporting Project 2011-20, March 2022.