Nature recovery in the West of England

To make the most of our work to recover nature, we need to know how and where we can have the biggest impacts.

The West of England Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) sets out the priorities for recovering nature across the West of England and maps ‘focus areas’ where action to help nature will go furthest.

The LNRS will guide all of our work on nature recovery in the coming years, including how and where we prioritise funding for the natural environment.

We need everyone to play their part in restoring nature across the West of England, from farmers, businesses, charities, and communities to local government.

Our Action for Nature Map shows what is being done across the region to recover nature by delivering the West of England LNRS. By adding your action to the Map, you can help make clear the scale of action being taken in the West of England.

To date, the Combined Authority has committed more than £7million to projects delivering nature recovery, as well as awarding £1 million to 68 community-led projects through our Community Pollinator Fund.

It is vital that we monitor the health of nature and adapt our programmes to empower its recovery.

Our 2026 State of Nature Report highlights where habitats are under pressure and where urgent action is needed to reverse species’ decline.

The report is part of a comprehensive, region-wide monitoring programme that we are building to track the state of nature, assesses progress in ecological restoration and evaluate the effectiveness of investments over time.

Part of this programme is the West of England Wildlife Index. A pioneering approach that will enable us to monitor and improve wildlife abundance across the region.

To date, the Combined Authority has committed more than £7million on diverse projects in both urban and rural areas that are cleaning up rivers, connecting flower-rich grasslands, creating new woodlands and engaging residents with nature on their doorstep in innovative ways.

This executive summary is intended to introduce the topic of nature recovery and why we should invest in nature in the West of England.

It presents a summary of the economic assessment of nature recovery that Atkins have carried out, and next steps for how these ‘nature and people positive’ outcomes can be achieved.

Working in partnership is crucial to delivering the scale of change needed to reverse the decline in nature. We work closely with Local Authorities, environmental charities, regulators, businesses and community groups on nature recovery.

In particular, we are part of the West of England Nature Partnership (WENP), a collaboration of diverse organisations working together to deliver more for nature’s recovery in the West of England, and the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership (BACP), one of over 100 Catchment Partnerships across England delivering the Catchment Based Approach.