Information about our compliance with biodiversity duty
Compliance with biodiversity duty
In 2021, the Government’s Environment Act strengthened the legal Biodiversity Duty, which requires all public authorities to consider what action they can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity. The actions that public authorities take for biodiversity will contribute to the achievement of national goals and targets for nature recovery. These are set out in the governments Environmental Improvement Plan (2023).
As part of the Biodiversity Duty, the Environment Act requires the Council to:
- Consider what actions it can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity, with the First Consideration required by January 2024.
- Agree policies and specific objectives based on its consideration.
- Act to deliver its policies and achieve its objectives.
The first full Biodiversity Duty Report has now been completed for the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025. The report includes a summary of the actions taken to comply with the biodiversity duty, our plans for compliance in the next reporting period, and any additional relevant information. For the Council, it also incorporates the required Biodiversity Net Gain data as per government guidance.
The key nature recovery priorities for our local area are be set out in the Norfolk Local Recovery Strategy. Our Biodiversity Duty is to have regard to this vital strategy.
Our progress in considering and responding to the Biodiversity Duty will next be reported before January 2031, and we will continue to review our duty in order to make a positive contribution to nature’s recovery.