Local Nature Recovery Strategy
The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has been appointed by DEFRA to produce a Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for the city region. Image copyright: Dave McAleavy
Local nature recovery strategies are ambitious, England-wide spatial strategies, designed to support the restoration and enhancement of nature. The strategy maps our most valuable existing habitats, agrees priorities for reversing the decline in biodiversity and maps opportunities for nature recovery and wider environmental goals.
With support from Natural England and our local authority partners, the strategy takes an evidence-based and locally-led approach and was developed in collaboration with local stakeholders from the public, private and voluntary sectors.
The LCRCA LNRS is currently being developed and public consultation has now closed, thank you to all that contributed. All associated documents and the local habitat map are in draft format.
The UK has lost nearly 50% of its biodiversity, placing it in the top 10% most nature depleted countries in the world. The Liverpool city region is no exception. The region’s post-industrial legacy has left its biodiversity in a state of decline, with a 5% loss of all habitats since the 1980s, including 10% of its most biodiverse grasslands. Since 1970, 36 priority species of plants and animals (those that are most threatened and require urgent conservation action), have not been seen in the city region and could be considered locally extinct, with a further 34 species not seen since 1989.
The LNRS enables the first step of urgent action required to reverse biodiversity decline and restore the natural environment, which provides a range of benefits to the people of our region. Nature-based solutions can improve our air and water quality, help us to achieve Net Zero, build resilience to climate change and provide access to thriving green spaces.
The Local Habitat Map
To help us achieve our priorities for nature that are set out in the strategy, we need to target investment and action in places that would provide the biggest benefit to nature, the wider environment and people. To do this, a local habitat map for the Liverpool City Region has been developed as a tool to guide nature recovery.
The local habitat map below is made up of two components: core local nature sites and opportunity areas.
Core local nature sites are existing protected nature sites which include internationally, nationally and locally designated sites and irreplaceable habitats (those which are very difficult to restore once lost). Opportunity areas are places where we think there is a potential opportunity to enhance, restore or create new habitat. They target the right action in the right place, connecting habitats at a regional scale, but do not rule out action in unmapped areas. Each opportunity area is assigned a primary and, in most cases, secondary measure (action), suggesting the most impactful interventions to deliver at each location.
As much of our designated site network already has comprehensive management plans in place, LNRS guidance mandates that these areas, including much of the Sefton coast, could not be mapped as opportunity areas but their importance for biodiversity should not be overlooked.
“Over the past few decades, we’ve seen the precious habitats and ecosystems of some of our native species left exposed to both human activity and the effects of climate change – and the results are alarming. With so much of our country’s wildlife and natural biodiversity at risk, these fragile ecosystems need to be protected more than ever.
Wildlife is something to be cherished and protected for future generations, so we’re taking decisive action to start to tackle the decline of wildlife across our region. How fantastic would it be, for example, to see our famous red squirrel population growing again?
Our residents deserve to live in a greener, cleaner city region with thriving green spaces on their doorstep and protecting and sustaining our natural world will be key to achieving that ambition. While we’re only at the beginning of this journey, I’m confident we can start to make a really positive difference.”
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram
N.B. This map is not a delivery plan but a guide for how nature recovery could take place. It does not give permission to carry out proposals or prevent any other form of land use. While the opportunities identified in the map are based on best available data and local knowledge, ground-truthing will be needed before any action takes place.
The LCRCA LNRS is not yet published and this is a draft map produced for consultation purposes. The strategy and map will be updated when the strategy is approved and published, likely in Spring 2026.
Please note, the draft local habitat map may be slow to load, please be patient. We recommend phone users to open the map in a new window. Click here to open map in new window.
