Nature recovery needs money if nature recovery strategies are to be delivered. The Yorkshire Post has recently reported that North Yorkshire Council has not yet received any funding to deliver a nature recovery strategy after being told by the government to prepare the plan. The report, which was approved by the council’s executive committee, established 39 priorities, which are spread across the ‘habitat’ or land use categories of farmland, upland, grassland, woodland, water and wetlands, urban and coast.
To address the decline of nature, the government requires that every English county or combined authority produce a strategy to address and improve the environment and protect it for the future.
The Post reports that Councillor Richard Foster (Wharfedale division), executive member for managing our environment, said: “The Local Nature Recovery Strategy for North Yorkshire and York maps nature in our region and identifies actions to help safeguard it for the future. “The strategy identifies priorities for North Yorkshire and York to not only help reverse the decline of nature but allow it to flourish for future generations and create a network of nature-rich sites that are bigger, better managed and more joined up across the county and across the country.”
He confirmed that nature recovery needs money but that no funding had been provided to deliver the strategy.
ACE has written to Sir Julian Smith MP for Skipton and Ripon asking him to pursue the government for the funds as a matter of urgency, so that work can get underway.