Getting started with Nature Recovery in your parish
If you would like to know how to help nature in your parish and/or commission a report to map the land cover enabling you to see your area in a wide view, here are a few points to consider.
What nature have you got in your Parish already?
- Are there any landscape designations, such as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Local Wildlife Site (LWS) or Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI) National or Local Nature Reserve (NNR/LNR)
- What ‘priority habitats’ are there? These are nature-rich habitats which are sometimes already mapped.
- What condition are these habitats in? Are they connected in the landscape? Are there enhancements that could improve them?
- What species are found within the parish? Are there any rarities? What do these species need to thrive?
- Where is the green infrastructure? – recreational space, churchyards, road verges and hedges for example
- Is there any blue infrastructure? Do you have streams, rivers, wet ditches or ponds?
Who can put this information together?
There may be a person living locally, or a local group, who could help out with this mapping exercise.
If not local Record Centres have a wealth of information about habitats and species and may be able to help you as part of the mapping process.
If you would like to commission a professional consultant to carry out a mapping exercise, you can look for one here.
Making nature positive plans
Mapping habitats and species gives a visual interpretation parish-wide and would enable a holistic view, helping people to see where connections with hedges or wildflower planting for instance, could make a real difference.
Use your map to make a nature positive plan for the parish.
- What percentage of land is in parish ownership and is under your council’s control? What could you do for nature on your land?
- What are residents doing in their own gardens? Gardens are a large percentage of green space and enable people to take part in helping nature. Are residents that are already looking after nature in their spaces interested in helping inspire others and share knowledge?
- Do you have contact with local farmers? They may have agri-environment schemes of plans for nature.
- If there is a school, what are they doing for nature and are the children engaged in their natural environment? If not, would they like to be?
If you would like to see an example of a previous report commissioned by Kingston, near Lewes, you can find it on their parish website, along with the outcomes and future plans the parish has.
Funding to support plans and projects
If you need to commission a consultant to undertake a mapping exercise, the South Downs National Park’s ReNature grants can support up to 50% of these costs.
Contact grants@southdowns.gov.uk if published application deadlines have expired as we are able to invite applications at other times during the year. Applicants are responsible for finding and commissioning these consultants/services.
Grants are available for the capital works required to deliver nature recovery projects once your plan is created.
Check whether you have any available funds to contribute, such as Community Infrastructure Levy Funding, as a grant would not be for 100% of the project value.