For nature to recover in our county, we need bigger, better and more joined up wildlife-rich spaces where nature can thrive across 30% of the county. To achieve this, we need to work with partners to create new landscape-scale areas of semi-natural habitat and support land managers to adopt nature-friendly farming practices across at least half of the agricultural landscape.
For nature to recover we also need to restore the relationship between people and the natural world we belong to. Nature connectedness is a focus for the People and Nature workstream, and must also be incorporated into all of the work of the OLNP.
We are working to secure nature’s recovery through: local landscape recovery projects; supporting development of the new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) framework to ensure it brings benefits locally; promoting environmental land management including through engagement with farmer clusters; and working with Oxfordshire County Council and stakeholders to help deliver the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for Oxfordshire (this link opens in a new window).
If you would like to find out more about Oxfordshire's nature, our partners Wild Oxfordshire and the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust are excellent resources.
Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) are wildlife-rich sites selected for their local nature conservation value. They include some of our most important wild habitats in the UK. Many of them are privately owned and so rely on the time and commitment of the landowners, farmers and volunteers who look after them. Our partners work hard to support the protection and restoration of these places. Investment is needed for Local Wildlife Sites to play their full role in contributing to nature recovery. OLNP will champion and support the LWS project, aiming to double the resources available, enabling an improvement in the condition of LWS across the county.
For nature to recover, as well as protecting and enhancing our most precious places for nature, we also need to work at a landscape scale. The OLNP acknowledges the Lawton principle of the need for 'bigger, better, more joined up' places for nature. To achieve this the OLNP will champion and support Farmer Clusters, local landscape recovery projects, and Catchment Partnerships to deliver for nature.
Oxfordshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), due to be adopted in the Autumn of 2025, is a spatial strategy for nature that maps the most important areas that need protection and restoration for nature to recover and has the potential to be a powerful tool that will help restore our natural habitats and green spaces.
OLNP is working to lay the groundwork for LNRS delivery via its alignment and incorporation into planning, agriculture, business and communities. Find out more here.
Decisions made at the central government level have significant implications for our ability to drive nature’s recovery at a local level. Nature must be embedded into planning, infrastructure, agricultural, and economic policy. Adequate resourcing is essential to support the people and organisations that are delivering and enabling nature recovery projects. We also need new funding streams to be developed to deliver projects on the ground.
The OLNP has been at the forefront of national advocacy on behalf of Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) across England. We have engaged with DEFRA to strengthen support for LNPs, coordinated correspondence, and held meetings with Ministers and officials across multiple government departments to influence policy and funding. Most recently, we have established an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Local Nature Recovery, bringing together LNPs and Members of Parliament to advocate for a policy framework that enables effective local action for nature recovery.
Our working groups are made up of experts in their fields who help to deliver our objectives.
The Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) steering group are supporting Oxfordshire County Council in developing an LNRS that works for nature.
The policy working group is an advisory body on nature policy in Oxfordshire made up of representatives with expertise in developing and implementing nature-positive policy. This group seeks to be a trusted source of evidence-based policy advice on nature protection, restoration and enhancement.
The Biodiversity Advisory Group seeks to enable the coordinated delivery of nature’s recovery in Oxfordshire by providing a forum for professionals to share knowledge and expertise. The group also provides expert advice and guidance externally on the development of strategic plans for Oxfordshire’s biodiversity.
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