SOMERSET Council now have a lead role in developing a plan to help protect nature in Somerset.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have appointed the council to lead the preparation of a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS).

Now acting as one of the 48 responsible authorities across the UK, the council has been awarded with £310k from the £14m government fund to help restore wildlife-rich habitats in the region.

LNRS will be led by both the council and the Somerset Local Nature Partnership.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the council will:

  • Engage with stakeholders across the farming, health, community, development and natural resource management sectors.
  • Drive a coordinated action plan.
  • Highlight where the most important areas for nature are.
  • Identify opportunities to restore, grow and connect wildlife in urban and rural areas.
  • Adopt a joined-up approach working with residents, groups, landowners, and organisations to build a mapped framework.

Over the coming months, residents, businesses, farmers, landowners and communities will be given a chance to have their say on the plans.

Kirsty Larkins, service director for Climate and Sustainability at Somerset Council, said: “One of our key priorities is a green, more sustainable Somerset and it is vital that we act now to recover and protect wildlife and nature and halt the decline of biodiversity in Somerset, playing our part in the UK-wide effort.

“This protection and enhancement goes hand in hand with our commitment to tackle climate change. As with any strategy of this kind, the key to its success will be collaboration – developing common goals we can all get behind, by working together and building understanding."

Chair of the Somerset Local Nature Partnership, Georgia Stokes, said: “Somerset Local Nature Partnership brings together a strategic mix of business, academics, statutory and voluntary organisations to champion nature and the benefits a healthy natural world brings.

“Working with Somerset Council on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy enables a joint approach to recovering nature in the county, ensuring the people of Somerset have an opportunity to access nature where they live and work within a thriving countryside teaming with wildlife. Despite being renowned for its greenness, Somerset nature is struggling."