Shropshire has launched its Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) under the 2021 Environment Act, aiming to restore habitats, protect wildlife, and promote biodiversity. Led by Shropshire Council with support from other agencies, the non-binding plan identifies key areas for nature recovery, including water management, flooding control, and climate resilience. While it cannot enforce changes, the LNRS provides a framework for coordinated efforts to address the county's nature crisis and bring economic benefits.
A plan to improve a county's wild spaces has been unveiled, aiming to restore habitats and protect wildlife. Under the 2021 Environment Act, every local authority must develop one of these plans to promote biodiversity and restore nature in their respective areas.
It is called a Local Nature Recovery Strategy , and Shropshire is the latest of the 48 areas to reveal its aims. Shropshire has "things that we really want to protect," said Lynn Parker, who is coordinating the project, adding that "having the strategy means that we can focus our efforts".
An LNRS is a joint effort between a large number of agencies, and is part of a new system that hopes to map and help drive a more coordinated approach to nature recovery and build a national Nature Recovery Network.that in 2018 set out to improve the UK's nature within a generation and is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . In Shropshire, the LNRS is being led by Shropshire Council, with support from Telford and Wrekin Council and other agencies including Natural England and Shropshire Wildlife Trust.
But an LNRS cannot force a landowner to make changes and is not legally binding - it purely points out where change should, ideally, happen.
"Shropshire is like the rest of the UK - we've got a bit of a nature crisis," Parker said. The LNRS provides a framework for agencies to "focus" on, she added, which means "we can benefit all of those areas and species". She noted that "water management, flooding control, water quality, and climate" are areas that local people have highlighted as needing more attention.
Councillor David Walker, who represents Whittington on Shropshire Council, said improving the county's natural world could also bring "big economic benefits".
"Shropshire's a lovely place to live and work, but that doesn't mean there aren't things we can do to make it better," he said. Rob Trigg/BBCCouncillor Carolyn Healy represents the Ironbridge Gorge ward on Telford and Wrekin Council and is the cabinet member for planning, neighbourhoods and sustainability. The strategy "sets out areas of opportunity" and identifies places "where we can really enhance biodiversity," Healy said.
Telford and Wrekin has "a fantastic network of local nature reserves," she added, noting that the plans will "help shape how we manage those areas as well". What habitats are there in Shropshire? Shropshire is, of course, home to the Shropshire Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as iconic landscapes like the Wrekin and the Ironbridge Gorge.
The county also boasts ecologically significant areas like Whixall Moss, the Rivers Severn, Clun and Teme, and a large number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest . It also has unusual habitats like ffridd, a Welsh term for a type of upland ecosystem common in Wales, that is made up of a combination of habitats including bog, acid grassland, and bracken.
The strategy for Shropshire is broken down into 16 priorities, including restoring hedgerows, peatlands and wetlands, "re-naturalising" rivers and protecting "veteran trees". What about the wildlife? Dormice, hedgehogs, pine martens and water voles are the mammals that the project has identified as a priority. Birds including the curlew, nightjar, dipper, lesser black-backed gull and red grouse are also named.
Just one plant is on the list - the green-winged orchid - alongside a large number of invertebrates including theOnce a common sight in Shropshire, curlew numbers have fallen in the 21st Century Dave Cragg, from Natural England, said "there's a lot that needs to be done" to address "the global biodiversity crisis". In Shropshire, "there are definitely places where it is really good", Cragg said, noting the county's nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
The diversity of Shropshire's nature makes it special, he added, recalling "those brilliant hills, the Stiperstones, the Long Mynd" as well as "bogs, fens, and a brilliant river system". Dave Cragg said Shropshire's ecosystems were very diverseThe team behind the strategy have spent two years engaging with local people, holding clinics across Shropshire and attending agricultural shows to name just a few.
A public survey was held when the LNRS was in its infancy in summer 2024, with nature recovery conferences held for town and parish councils later that year. Shropshire Council said it was "pleased with the response", with 3,782 comments received during a consultation held in 2025, which they claim is "more than any other LNRS area to date". Groups like the National Farmers Union have contributed to the consultation to ensure that it works with farmers.
Kate Mayne, who is a farmer and the chair of NFU Shropshire, worked closely with the project and said that "local idiosyncrasies... are really important to us as farmers". By speaking to Shropshire farmers during the consultation, Mayne said that they have "had the opportunity to identify what's right with it - but also what's wrong with it and to be able to kind of steer it".
Farmers can contribute to the aims of the LNRS, she explained, as "we can do lots around the boundaries of our fields to create more habitat through our amazing network of hedgerows". Mayne said that people in her industry "are managing a very large proportion of the land" so it is "critical that we get the balance right between food production alongside nature".
Local Nature Recovery Strategy Biodiversity Habitat Restoration Shropshire Environment Act
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