The Landscape Institute responds to Natural England’s strategy for recovering nature.
The Landscape Institute strongly welcomes Natural England’s strategy, Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security, viewing it as a powerful validation of our long-held belief that high-quality, nature-rich places are the foundation of sustainable economic growth.
We fully endorse the shift toward systemic, landscape-scale nature recovery. Outcome 2: Building Better Places is particularly vital, aiming to embed nature into housing and infrastructure from the outset by championing Green Infrastructure (GI). This rightly positions nature as an investable asset—not a barrier—and aligns with the goal of providing nature within a 15-minute walk of every home. We look forward to working with Natural England to fulfil this vision.
However, let’s not forget the challenges facing delivery for nature at this scale:
- Skills and Capacity: There’s a critical shortfall in professionals across the built and natural environment, including landscape architecture, to design and implement GI and biodiversity measures.
- Strategic Integration: There’s a risk that Local Nature Recovery Strategies will not be fully and statutorily integrated into all Local Plans and major project delivery. Unless strategies are statutory and consistently applied across all local planning decisions, nature recovery may not be treated as a core component of placemaking.
- Long-Term Funding: There’s a need for guaranteed long-term public and private investment streams to ensure the successful delivery and maintenance of resilient ecosystems.
“Natural England’s Strategy provides a very welcome roadmap, positioning nature as the indispensable infrastructure for economic growth, placemaking and societal health. We particularly welcome the ambition of Outcome 2: Building Better Places, which explicitly links housing and infrastructure delivery with high-quality, accessible green space.
The challenge is one of delivery, not vision. The Landscape Institute and our members look forward to working with Natural England, local and regional authorities and developers to make this happen. However, for nature and development to work hand in hand, we must rapidly address the skills gap, mandate the seamless integration of LNRS into all spatial planning, and ensure robust finance mechanisms are in place to ensure long-term nature recovery.”
– Belinda Gordon, Director of Policy & Public Affairs