Local Nature Action Plans (LNAP)
Local Nature Action Plans – resources for councils and communities
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Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) Climate Emergency Declaration recognises that we all need to take urgent steps to address the climate and ecological emergency.
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All local authorities, including Town and Parish Councils, must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity, agree policies and objectives – and act to deliver these. This is the strengthened ‘biodiversity duty’ that the Environment Act 2021 introduces. Town and Parish Councils have a crucial role to play in engaging with communities and driving local action. A model biodiversity policy and guidance is available from the Society for Local Council Clerks (SLCC).
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Councils also have the opportunity to develop a Local Nature Action Plan (LNAP) which is their plan to declare what they will do to help nature’s recovery. Each plan will be slightly different, depending on location and resource availability.
In Warwickshire, the Local Nature Partnership (LNP) and Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils (WALC) have developed a step-by-step guide to help local councils recognise and improve their biodiversity assets.
This step-by-step guide is designed to help each Council and their community develop, consult on, and deliver a Local Nature Action Plan (LNAP), which will be informed by, and feed into, Warwickshire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Protecting the biodiversity of our county needs a true partnership effort to ensure we maintain Warwickshire as a great place to live and work and visit.
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Our guide is based on the guide produced by South Gloucestershire Council and we were delighted that colleagues from South Gloucestershire Council contributed to a workshop that the LNP and WALC organised for local councils in Warwickshire on 13 September 2024.
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Resources:
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Step-by-step guide to help local councils recognise and improve their biodiversity assets ‘Local Nature Action Plans - Embedding biodiversity in your community: guidance for town and parish councils’
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Model biodiversity policy and guidance from the Society for Local Council Clerks (SLCC) Model-biodiversity-policy-30-October-2023-1.pdf.
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Report about Warwickshire’s First Local Nature Action Plan Workshop Warwickshire’s First Local Nature Action Plan Workshop - WALC - Town and Parish Council Support
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Presentation ‘Delivering our Response to the Nature Emergency Local Climate and Nature Action Plans’ by Matthew Lipton, Biodiversity Assets & Commons Manager at South Gloucestershire Council; Daisy Finnear, Climate & Nature Officer to Frampton Cotterrell Parish Council on 13th September 2024. Delivering our Response to the Nature Emergency
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Information from South Gloucestershire Council about Local nature action plans | BETA - South Gloucestershire Council