Better, bigger, more and joined up – the overarching principles for nature recovery in Kent and Medway

In order for the county’s nature to respond and adapt to the increasing challenges of climate change, as well as the other pressures and challenges it faces, we need to ensure the Kent and Medway Local Nature Recovery Strategy is applying the Lawton principles. We are not only building on them but also reframing them slightly to provide a hierarchy for action – better, bigger, more and joined up.

In applying these principles across the Strategy, we will not only support the recovery of nature but also ensure that our habitats and species have the ability and space to respond and adapt to the impacts of climate change, by enabling dynamic habitats and increasing their resilience. It also means that there is room for nature alongside the many competing demands for land in our county, and that the many pressures facing nature are tackled with a more strategic and ecosystem-led approach.

The overarching principles of the Kent and Medway Local Nature Recovery Strategy are as follows:

Better – improve the quality of our existing habitats and ensure they are in a healthy and functioning state by applying and resourcing better and appropriate management of them. We also need to better conserve and safeguard what we already have.

Bigger – increase the size of our most valuable and important habitat sites, not only extending but buffering them, to protect them from the pressures of human influences.

More – through habitat restoration and creation, establish new, nature-rich sites that not only provide more space for nature but also provide connectivity between existing core sites.

Joined up – enhance connections between, and join up, sites, by improving the quality of the land between them, creating new physical corridors and establishing stepping stones.

Nature-based solutions – work with nature and use natural processes to tackle some of the socio-economic challenges our county faces, maximising the benefits of nature recovery.

Land management and land use – increase the number of landowners, land managers and farmers using nature-friendly and habitat-sensitive land management and land-use practices, recognising the crucial role they play in helping to deliver a better, more coherent and resilient wildlife network across the county.