Gloucestershire   Local   Nature Partnership

Working with a range of expert partners in Gloucestershire, we have some early draft ideas on key themes to include in the strategy. 

This is the current draft list of themes:

• • Bigger, better, more and more joined - These are the themes of maintaining good wildlife habitat and increasing connectivity– the core theme of Nature Recovery as expressed in Making Space for Nature 2010. This will increase the resilience of nature by increasing the areas that it can travel to and escape threats.

  • Climate change - Climate change affects nature, with species needing to move to more suitable habitats and escape the effects or extreme weather.  Nature can help mitigate some impacts of climate change.

  • Our relationship with water - The need to renaturalise our river corridors and their relationship with the floodplain, and where appropriate to remove barriers in rivers to the movement of fish species;  flooding;  tackling water quality issues.

  • The value of messy or mixed habitats - Including valuing scrub as a habitat and prioritising mixed habitats with different types and heights of vegetation.

  • Urban green infrastructure and priorities for developers – The importance of nature in our settlements, urban areas and new developments was emphasised by participants in our public engagement sessions, as well as by other stakeholders. Nature in our urban areas and settlements is important for health and wellbeing, for nature connection, for climate change mitigation and for the connectivity of wildlife habitats.

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Please give your views about the emerging priorities of the Gloucestershire Local Nature Recovery Strategy here:  https://haveyoursaygloucestershire.uk.engagementhq.com/local-nature-recovery-strategy-engagement 

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If you are a farmer, landowner, land manager or farm advisor we would love you to help inform the development of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy through this survey please:  https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/GloucsLNRSFarmerSurvey 

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During March and April 2024, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership and independent facilitators Holding The Space ran community and public engagement sessions to help bring in a range of views and local knowledge to inform the development of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.  You can read what we heard and learned here:  Report on LNRS Community Engagement Workshops

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This is the current draft list of priority habitats in Gloucestershire:

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Grassland & meadows (limestone, lowland, floodplain, road verges)

Different types of wildflower-rich meadows are important in Gloucestershire – and are currently often isolated fragments

 

Woodland (ancient woodland, deciduous woods, veteran trees, wet woodland)

Woodlands and trees support a wide range of species, provide shading and store carbon

 

Mixed “mosaic” habitats (scrub, wood pasture, traditional orchards, hedgerows, successional and edge habitats)

Many species need a variety of habitats rather than just one, so a mixture of trees, scrub and grassland provides a range of food sources and places to nest

 

Open water including clean water ponds

Ponds are really important for species like newts, frogs and toads

 

Rivers, land linked to rivers, Tufa

Can we create more natural river banks and river courses, and help our rare fish survive?

 

Wetlands

Wetlands support a diverse range of species and can help store carbon

 

Estuary saltmarsh and mudflats

The Severn Estuary is internationally important for nature

 

Urban green spaces, allotments and gardens

The land around our homes can provide wildlife corridors, pollinator plants and more

 

Sustainable farming, soil health and field margins

Building the health of our soils, and providing food sources for wildlife and habitat connectivity through our countryside

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