Local Nature Recovery Strategies
6 July 2026
Working together across boundaries for nature recovery
The recent publication of the Sussex Local Nature Recovery Strategies is an important milestone for nature recovery across the South East.
Together with the Kent strategy, published in 2025, and the Surrey strategy, published in June, every part of the High Weald National Landscape is now covered by an adopted Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).
The four plans together complement the High Weald National Landscape Management Plan, a statutory document which is broader in scope and includes a long-term strategic framework for coordinating nature recovery across the whole of the High Weald.
What is a Local Nature Recovery Strategy?
Local Nature Recovery Strategies are spatial plans that identify opportunities for nature recovery at a county level. The mapping they consist of identifies areas already important for nature and areas that could be important for nature through restoration and creation of habitats. The plans also list the priority measures that are most beneficial for nature recovery in each county.
Introduced through the Environment Act 2021, LNRS are one of the most significant new tools for planning nature recovery in England. Together, the 48 strategies being produced across the country will help create a more coordinated and strategic approach to restoring nature.
The mapping should not be interpreted as identifying the only places where nature recovery can happen. Instead, it provides a strategic framework to help guide investment, partnership working and decision-making. Nature recovery can, and should, take place wherever opportunities arise.
The LNRS mapping also has an important role to play in development planning and is a material consideration for Local Planning Authorities, particularly in relation to the siting of off-site Biodiversity Net Gain.
How LNRS will work in the High Weald
The High Weald is the fourth largest National Landscape in England, covering 1,461 square kilometres across East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent and Surrey. As a result, the landscape is covered by four separate Local Nature Recovery Strategies. This presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Nature does not recognise administrative boundaries, but policies, funding programmes and delivery mechanisms often do.
As one of only a small number of protected landscapes that span four counties, the High Weald National Landscape Partnership is uniquely placed to help connect the priorities, organisations and projects set out in four separate Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
By working across county boundaries, we can help ensure that nature recovery is planned and delivered at the landscape scale on which ecological systems function, rather than being constrained by administrative boundaries. This close partnership will be essential to coordinating action, sharing knowledge and delivering lasting benefits for nature across the High Weald.
A collaborative approach
Members of the High Weald team have been closely involved throughout the development of the East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent LNRS, serving on working and delivery groups, with one of our co-Directors also sitting on the Kent LNRS Board.
Our participation meant we have contributed to discussions on habitat and species priorities, reviewed draft documents and mapping, and promoted distinctive High Weald habitats such as sandstone outcrops, gill woodlands and species-rich grassland to ensure they were recognised within the strategies. We also worked closely with the LNRS teams to support the mapping and measures of important High Weald habitats, sharing High Weald-specific datasets we have created to draw attention to the many undesignated features, such as historic routeways, that are part of the High Weald’s rich habitat mosaic.
This collaborative approach has helped ensure that the LNRSs recognise both county-wide priorities and the distinctive ecological character of the High Weald, while strengthening relationships that will be just as important during delivery as they were during preparation.
The High Weald Management Plan and LNRS
The High Weald Management Plan remains the primary strategic document for the High Weald. It sets out the long-term objectives and actions needed to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of this nationally protected landscape.
An LNRS fulfils a different, but highly complementary, role. Where the Management Plan provides the overall vision and direction for a protected landscape such as the High Weald , the LNRS provides detailed spatial evidence and practical priorities for nature recovery at county level. Used together, the two frameworks create a stronger basis for directing investment, identifying opportunities and coordinating action.
From strategy to action
Publishing an LNRS is not the end of the process; it is just the beginning. The real measure of success will be the partnerships and practical projects that follow. By bringing together local authorities, protected landscape teams, farmers, landowners, environmental organisations and communities, the LNRS provides a shared framework for delivering nature recovery where it can make the greatest difference.
LNRS teams are not responsible for delivering nature recovery themselves, and they have no enforcement powers to require landowners to undertake nature recovery works simply because their land appears within an opportunity area. But they can help point landowners, farmers, communities and organisations towards funding opportunities and other support.
The High Weald National Landscape Partnership proactively facilitates nature recovery. Our team is here to offer free advice and support to people looking to manage land in a more nature-friendly way; we bring communities together to co-design projects that achieve landscape-wide change; and we manage grant schemes that can support groups, individuals or organisations to act for nature across the High Weald.
To find out more, follow these links:
High Weald AONB Management Plan
East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove LNRS
Kent’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Surrey Local Nature Recover Strategy