The Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for Hull and East Yorkshire sets out a shared, long-term vision for restoring and enhancing nature across our area. East Riding of Yorkshire Council led the development of the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy, supported by the HEY LNP and over 50 other organisations. The strategy identifies priority habitats, species and locations where action can make the greatest difference. It provides a practical framework to guide decision-making, investment and collaboration, helping partners, communities and land managers work together to support nature recovery while delivering benefits for people and place.
The Hull and East Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy is formed of two main components, the strategy document and the interactive map.
The strategy document lays out the priority habitats and species for nature recovery in the region and the measures that can be taken to help their recovery. You can read the full or summarised versions below.
The interactive LNRS map brings the Local Nature Recovery Strategy to life, showing how nature recovery priorities are distributed across Hull and East Yorkshire. Using spatial data and local evidence, the map highlights priority habitats, opportunity areas and locations where targeted action can deliver the greatest benefits for nature, climate and people.
You can explore the map to better understand what is happening in your area, view different data layers, and see how the LNRS can help inform land management, planning, project development and funding opportunities. The map is designed to support collaboration and informed decision-making, whether you are a land manager, local authority, community group or interested resident.
The map is a tool to guide decision making, and does not imply any proposed designations or limit how land can be managed. If you see something incorrectly mapped, please get in touch to help inform the next iteration of the map.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy identifies eight priority habitat types that are central to restoring and strengthening nature across Hull and East Yorkshire. Each habitat page provides an overview of why it is important, the key priorities for recovery, and examples of action already taking place. Together, these pages show how targeted, habitat-led action can help deliver a healthier, more resilient natural environment for the area.
Identify opportunities for nature recovery which can:
Invest in nature-based solutions to support production and longevity of businesses. This can include:
Please also see the webinar hosted in Humber Business Week 2025 about how local businesses benefit from nature recovery watch the webinar
For more information on any of the above ideas, or to share your nature success stories, get in touch
The Environment Act (2021) requires LNRSs to be prepared. Defra has appointed East Riding of Yorkshire Council to prepare an LNRS that covers the entirety of Hull and East Yorkshire. The LNRS will help to address biodiversity, climate, and wellbeing emergencies by providing a blueprint for nature recovery. The LNRS will also serve to direct people towards relevant funding sources.
LNRSs are developed by responsible authorities (RAs), as set out in the statutory LNRS regulations. In Hull and East Yorkshire, the RA is East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Each RA is supported by supporting authorities (SAs). Our LNRS is supported by Hull City Council and Natural England.
In addition, the whole strategy is being guided by a steering group consisting of members from relevant departments of both East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull City Councils, the North and East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre, National Farmers Union, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, The Country Land and Business Association, and Natural England.
The delivery of the LNRS is dependent upon partnership working. The LNRS is a plan that will guide and coordinate funding for nature recovery projects across the region. One of the key goals of the LNRS is to direct people towards funding through Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG); a requirement for most new developments to leave biodiversity in a better state than before the development took place.
The LNRS will identify key priorities and opportunities for nature recovery in the region, such as connecting habitats, restoring degraded habitats, and creating new habitats. It will also identify specific projects that can be funded to deliver BNG, such as planting hedgerows, restoring wetlands, and creating wildflower meadows.
The LNRS will be used to guide and focus funding from a variety of sources, including the government’s Biodiversity Net Gain policy, Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMs) alongside other potential funding opportunities such as carbon credits, woodland creation, natural flood management, protected species, and charitable grants.
By guiding and focusing funding in this way, the LNRS will help to ensure that nature recovery is delivered in a coordinated an impactful way.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a new legislation to promote developing land in a way that helps nature. It requires that new developments leave overall habitat for wildlife in a better state than it was before development. BNG will apply to most new developments from February 2024, unless they are exempt.
While BNG is meant to be first delivered on the site of new development itself, this may not always be possible. In such cases, councils and other organisations may look to develop off-site habitat banks. Habitat banks are areas of land that are set aside for habitat creation, which may begin before any habitat is lost on a development site. The habitat created in habitat banks is legally secured and managed for a 30-year period. Developers who need to provide off-site BNG can purchase units from habitat banks. Essentially this means purchasing ‘biodiversity units’ from land owners or other agents.
The LNRS will be key in identifying areas where habitat banks should be situated.
Read more here: Biodiversity Net Gain Brochure (blog.gov.uk) – A high level overview of BNG
LNRSs will be designed to be used in planning for local areas (e.g. through matching the boundaries of local planning authorities). The Environment Act 2021 requires local planning authorities to consider the LNRS when making decisions about both policy and development management. The government is currently preparing more guidance on how to do this.
The planning departments at both East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull City Councils are involved in developing the LNRS. We encourage those developing neighbourhood plans to get in touch and would like to hear about any opportunities for nature recovery that have already been identified.
The LNRS will inform emerging local plans and neighbourhood plans but the LNRS itself will not constrain planning and does not carry a legal status in the planning process
The LNRS won’t create designations or protections nor prevent any other land use. Its purpose is to inform land managers and incentivise nature recovery as a viable alternative to other land uses where it is most valuable. If land owners would like land to be considered for designation as a Local Wildlife Site (LWS) then we can support them with the process but managers of land which sits within the Nature Recovery Network will not be adversely affected. Instead, it will create improved opportunities to finance nature recovery. Participation in LNRS is entirely optional.
Nature recovery can take place anywhere. The LNRS will identify where evidence suggests it will be most impactful. The funding opportunities available exist for land outside of the Nature Recovery Network as well as inside it, however recovery efforts within it will receive further financial incentives. For example, there is a 15% uplift applied to habitat banks within the Nature Recovery Network through the BNG process that is not applied to land outside of it.
The statutory LNRS only covers Hull and East Riding to the average water level at low tide (i.e. mean low water). As such, we are not statutorily required to include the marine environment beyond this point. However, we recognise the importance of our marine environment and the interconnected nature of our land and seas. We are working closely with the Yorkshire Marine Nature Partnership to ensure that our marine environment is reflected in the Hull and East Yorkshire LNRS, however, Defra have made the decision that the biodiversity priorities in the marine environment should not be included, nor should the marine environment be included in mapping.
There are a number of sources of information available:
East Riding of Yorkshire Council have a produced a LNRS for Land Managers information booklet
East Riding of Yorkshire Council have a guidance page for biodiversity net gain
DEFRA blog on “BNG For Land Owners”
DEFRA BNG For Land Owners Flow Carts
Information on selling biodiversity units as a landowner or land manager can be found on government websites.