There has been a change in the local nature recovery strategy guidance. Defra had initially permitted coastal counties to do a voluntary extension further into the marine environment but very recently (May 2024) they strengthened their position against including marine as part of the local nature recovery strategy.
The reasons for this are:
- maps and proposed activities in marine areas outside the statutory local nature recovery strategy boundary will not be underpinned by legislation
- users of the strategy must be clear on which proposals they are required to consider
- having statutory and non-statutory components in the same document could cause confusion, affecting how useful the local nature recovery strategy is in encouraging delivery
- work is underway at the Marine Management Organisation to explore how spatial planning for marine nature recovery might develop in the future
In Dorset, work had started on a marine extension to 12 nautical miles (territorial sea) with lots of valuable inputs from local coastal and marine stakeholders.
Although we are no longer permitted to include a marine extension in the Dorset local nature recovery strategy, we will:
- continue using and gathering your inputs on coastal areas that fall within the statutory boundary
- include nature recovery activities that can be done on land but also benefit marine and estuarine environments
- work on aligning Dorset's local nature strategy with existing marine spatial plans
- create a summary report of all the work and inputs relating to Dorset's marine nature recovery to inform future work which will be shared with the Marine Management Organisation and local stakeholders via Dorset Coast Forum