Farmers invited to help finalise the Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Hull and East Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is inviting landowners across the region to feed on their Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) through an online survey.
Over the past two years, hundreds of people from across Hull and East Yorkshire have come together to shape the development of their LNRS, due to launch in spring 2025. With agricultural land covering 81% of the East Yorkshire area, East Riding of Yorkshire Council is directly appealing to farmers and land owners to share their feedback on proposed actions.
“We have already extensively mapped the pockets of habitat we currently have in East Yorkshire and Hull, and after several consultations with local environmental groups and the wider public over the past two years, we have a good indication of what the nature priorities for our region need to be. The vital pieces of the puzzle we are still missing are the how and where to best target our efforts.” explained John Pemberton, Senior Sustainable Environment Manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
How have landowners in East Yorkshire and Hull been involved so far?
To ensure the Strategy reflected the needs of the farming community, National Farmers Union (NFU) North East and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) are both members of the strategy steering group. A number of farmer focused workshops were also held in Winter 2023 and spring 2024, facilitated by agricultural specialists ADAS. The council say it is absolutely critical that as many landowners as possible engage with the strategy while it’s in development as it will decide the biodiversity priorities of the whole region for at least the next 10 years. John said:
“This strategy will not get off the ground without farmers and land managers, so we are appealing to those with space spare for biodiversity to engage with us. Equally we want to hear from land owners who are open to alternative uses for under-utilised land within their holdings either now or in the future. We understand that with agricultural grants and funding still in flux, it makes forward planning difficult, but if habitat creation is something you may consider in the future, please do still get involved and listen to what’s happening so you can make informed decisions further down the line.”
How LNRS will work with environmental land management schemes
Although Defra have not yet revealed how land involved in the strategy will complement the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship, there are other financial incentives in place for landowners. The LNRS is intrinsically linked to Biodiversity Net Gain with developers legally required to increase biodiversity by at least 10% as part of their new development. If they can’t, they can pay other land owners to create habitat on their project’s behalf. In areas covered by a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, those land owners will get 15% more.
John commented “This is to incentivise improvements in areas we believe need it the most, a way to ensure we’re getting the greatest nature benefit for our buck.”
Take the survey
There is also a survey specifically for farmers and land managers to give their feedback on LNRS progress made so far. The survey is open now and runs until Sunday 3 November 2024. It takes 15 minutes to complete.
The survey is now closed.