Our principles
What do we need to do to help nature in West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton & Hove?
Eight Principles for nature recovery
West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton & Hove are blessed with nationally and internationally important biodiversity. Nature shapes our iconic landscapes and nearly two thirds of our area is designated for its natural beauty. Our ecosystems support our health and wellbeing and provide us with many benefits and services such as carbon storage, clean water, flood risk reduction and pollination. Nature also underpins vital sectors within our economy such as farming and tourism.
But nature is at risk
Many of our important sites are under pressure from impacts such as development, disturbance and pollution. Most are too small and fragmented to function as they should. Some of our most precious habitats have been lost and degraded and many of our species are at risk of extinction. The quality of our water systems has been compromised while water scarcity is a significant concern for the future. Climate change impacts such as drought, flooding, storms and erosion further threaten the health of our habitats and species, and in turn, our own.
Our approach to nature’s recovery is guided by eight broad principles.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies for West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton & Hove include 24 priorities for nature and over 200 practical and enabling actions to bring them about. Putting these into context is a set of eight principles.
They set out that addressing systemic challenges requires us to think big. They tell us about the need to hold on to what we have and make it better, by making our important sites more resilient and expanding them and joining them up across the landscape as part of a thriving nature network. They speak to the need to support our farmers and landowners and the challenges of bringing more nature into our villages, towns and cities. They also outline the need to use nature more effectively as part of solutions to flood risk, poor water quality and increasing temperatures in our towns and cities.
Explore the principles
The principles illustrate that success will require tackling the challenge of recovering nature as a complex problem that requires actions by different stakeholders at different scales and through varying techniques. They also reflect the understanding and expertise of local stakeholders of the different elements that need to be in place if we are to achieve real progress over the years ahead.
As Local Nature Recovery Strategies are limited in their scope, each principle is accompanied by a reminder of how it will be interpreted within the strategy.
