Nature Recovery Network and the State of Nature Work
The Nature Recovery Network will be a national network of wildlife-rich places, with the aim to create bigger, better, and more connected habitats across England. It is a major commitment in the government’s 25 year Environment Plan and one that will help to deliver nature conservation objectives, more resilient landscapes, and vital ecosystem services, which will ensure our health, wealth and security into the future.
Determining the state of nature is an important first step in developing any plan for nature conservation and in establishing a baseline to enable progress monitoring.
Geckoella has reported and mapped the current State of Nature for 4 National Landscapes (previously called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)):
- The Mendip Hills National Landscape
- Blackdown Hills National Landscape
- East Devon National Landscape
- South Devon National Landscape
Building on work carried out in 2021-22 for several National Landscapes in South West England, Geckoella has recently updated the State of Nature assessment for the East Devon National Landscape. This is part of a pledge (the Colchester Declaration) made by National landscapes, to work towards an ambitious national plan to improve the quality, quantity and connectedness of our landscapes for the benefit of wildlife, introduced as part of the Environment Act (2021).
East Devon National Landscape’s new Story Map (link below), produced by Geckoella, summarises our technical report, and highlights new changes (including to Biodiversity Net Gain and agri-environment schemes) that will be useful tools in implementing Nature Recovery.
East Devon State of Nature Story Map
Photo 1 (top): Greater horseshoe bat. © Amber Avery 2022.
Photo 2 (bottom): Castle Neroche, Blackdown Hills AONB. ©Jamie Foster 2022.
