FAQs

This consultation is open for six weeks. It closes at 11:55 PM on the 26 November 2025.

While the LNRS is split into four documents, Parts 1 and 2 contain the context to the strategy and its key recommendations, so we recommend reviewing those.  

We also appreciate that these are very long documents. As this is the first time their information has been brought together, they are necessarily comprehensive, however not everyone has that much time to spare, so focus on those elements that are of most interest to you. 

You can also skip questions in the survey so you only need to feedback on what you've read.

We recommending reading our map user guide (opens in new window) first to help you navigate the platform. 

While you can access the map from your mobile, we recommend doing so from a desktop or laptop and this view is easier to navigate and has some additional functionality.

This LNRS is a new tool for improving nature across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove. It maps the most valuable existing and potential future areas for nature in the area.  It then identifies the parts of nature most in need of help to recover, outlines the actions (which we call ‘measures’) needed to improve them, and sets out where those actions could have the greatest impact. 

The LNRS is made up of two parts: a map, called the Local Habitat Map and a written document, called the Statement of Biodiversity Priorities. 

Together they combine to produce a new tool, which helps us understand how nature recovery might be most effectively (and efficiently) delivered.   

The Local Habitat Map displays existing habitat protection (alongside opportunities for improving nature) but does not alter them in any way, nor does it create new protected sites.

A healthy natural environment underpins everything we do. But despite the immense value it provides, nature is in decline globally, and the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. 

The LNRS helps us all to understand what nature needs in our local area and provides a tool that will guide our actions to enable the recovery of this most precious resource. 

The LNRS does not oblige any organisation, group or person to deliver measures. Rather, it provides a framework for coordinated and targeted action for nature locally, aiming to guide county-wide nature recovery that benefits both nature and people. It contains actions that will also help to make our rural and urban landscapes more resilient to pressures such as climate change. Across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove, we can all help with nature recovery by using the LNRS to inform the way we use, manage, improve, and develop land - whether farmland, woodland, greenspaces or our own gardens.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies will be used by local planning authorities as a material consideration in preparation of local plans, and will be considered alongside many other factors as part of the ‘planning balance’.  

However, beyond this role - Local Nature Recovery Strategies cannot dictate how land will be used and place no obligations on landowners or any other organisation to carry out actions. 

Areas that are mapped in the LNRS for habitat creation or improvement do not prevent other legitimate land uses, do not place new restrictions on developing land, and do not identify areas to be given legal protection.

While they highlight the pressures such as pollution and housing development are putting on our natural environment and wildlife, they cannot tackle the sources of these pressures if they are covered by other frameworks.

The intention of government is that these strategies help to target existing and available funds where they can make the most difference, whether these are from public or private sources.

For example, areas mapped on the Local Habitat Map will receive an uplift for the purposes of Biodiversity Net Gain (opens in new window) helping to target this funding from the planning system where it will deliver the greatest benefit for nature.

But beyond this, no specific additional funding pots have been provided by government for their delivery.

However, It is hoped that theLNRS will provide useful evidence that can be used to support funding applications by farmers and landowners seeking to manage their land for nature. Many of the measures have been aligned with options within agri-environment schemes so that this link can be made.

Similarly they will provide useful evidence for local councils, community groups and residents seeking funding to support nature in their local areas and for conservation organisations and partnerships creating new nature-based projects in Sussex.

The LNRS Responsible Authorities across the country are being given a new role by Defra to work across all sectors locally to support their delivery. More detail on how this role will be implemented will be provided by government within the next few months.