Nature Recovery Projects
in East Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas
This report has been commissioned by East Cambridgeshire District Council. The project aim is to identify a
high level Interim Nature Recovery Network for East Cambridgeshire district (to act as a preliminary, but non-
statutory Local Nature Recovery Strategy for the area), to inform implementation of biodiversity net gain
planning policies. The work will also inform other green infrastructure and natural capital investments, as well
as Parish Neighbourhood Plans and organisational nature recovery plans.
The project aims to:
- Identify Priority Areas for landscape-scale action to support nature’s recovery, from both desktop analysis and targeted fieldwork.
- Undertake stakeholder engagement with key stakeholders and a sample of major landowners to agree the boundaries of the priority landscape areas.
- Identify the critical components of a Nature Recovery Network in each of the Priority Areas, based on the Lawton principles of More, Bigger, Better, and More Joined Up.
The final products are this report and a series of GIS mapping layers.
The outputs from this project have informed and influenced the statutory county-level Local Nature Recovery Strategy that was published in January 2026.
Reference is also being made to sections of this “Interim Nature Recovery Network for East Cambridgeshire” Report.