Identifying LNRS priority species

Creating the Local Nature Recovery Strategy species longlist

To identify the county’s priority species, first, a longlist of species was compiled. Species on the longlist were selected against Natural England criteria, which were designed to enable Local Nature Recovery Strategies to contribute to the following national species extinction risk targets:

• Halt the decline in species abundance by the end of 2030.
• Increase species abundance by the end of 2042 so that is greater than in 2022 and at least 10% greater than in 2030.
• Reduce the risk of species’ extinction by 2042, when compared to the risk of species’ extinction in 2022.

Species which met the following criteria were to be included on the species longlist:

• Any native species which have been assessed as Red List Threatened or Near Threatened against International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria, at a Great Britain scale.
• Any native species which have not been formally assessed against IUCN Red List criteria but where strong evidence is provided showing that they would meet the criteria for Threatened status in Great Britain.
• Any native species considered to be nationally extinct that has re-established themselves or been rediscovered.
• Any native species which Natural England suggests as suitable candidates for conservation translocation, or any native species already subject to translocation efforts that, on Natural England’s advice, need to be scaled up to maximise success.
• Other species of local significance which have not yet been Red List assessed or lack approved Red Lists but for which there is strong evidence – or in the absence of this, authoritative expert opinion – to show that they would meet criteria for Threatened status.

The Natural England guidance notes that there are roughly 2,000 species in England which meet these criteria. When species in Kent were assessed and other species of local significance added, there were 1,503 species in the longlist, demonstrating the value of Kent and Medway for supporting rare, threatened and significant species. This longlist of species for the Strategy area can be found in Appendix 3.2a.

Identifying the Local Nature Recovery Strategy priority species

The Kent and Medway Local Nature Recovery Strategy priority species were identified by a technical advisory group comprising 37 of the county’s species specialists, including county recorders. The work was led by the Kent and Medway Biological Records Centre.

In the first instance, the longlist was assessed to determine which of the species the Local Nature Recovery Strategy could best support. Species fell into three categories:

1. Requires better, bigger, more or connected habitat but did not require specific or targeted recovery measures.
2. Requires specific and targeted habitat management, improvements in environmental quality and/or bespoke conservation actions.
3. Requires better evidence and/or understanding before necessary action can be determined, requires action outside England and/or is a vagrant or occasional visitor.

Those in category 1 were considered to be species that would benefit from the overall delivery of the Strategy’s principles and did not require specific habitat measures – 466 species from the longlist were assessed to fall into this category. Those in category 3 were considered to fall outside the scope of the Strategy’s influence at this time – 161 species from the longlist were assessed to fall into this category(the Strategy area’s species requiring further evidence are listed in Appendix 3.3). Therefore, only species which fell into category 2 (444 species from the longlist) were assessed by the final selection criteria, to create a short list of potential priority species. The selection criteria were:

• urgency of recovery requirements
• significance of Strategy area nationally and internationally to the conservation of the species
• scale of effort required
• associated benefits to other wildlife and the wider environment
• vulnerability to climate change
• species needs support with tracking when they adapt their geographical range or biological cycles to the changing climate
• ability to build on existing local, regional and/or national initiatives
• local expertise and knowledge of other reasons outside these criteria that qualifies the species for shortlisting as a potential priority species

The species shortlist was then considered in depth by the Species Technical Advisory Group to create a ‘nominated priority species’ list. This list of nominations was the focus of a dedicated workshop, which was attended by additional species experts and delivery partners, and allowed further scrutiny and wider input to what would eventually become the Strategy’s priority species. Priority species were selected from the shortlist in consideration of the habitats they were associated with, and the wider benefits action for that species would result in.

Presentation of the Kent and Medway priority species

The non-statutory guidance on priority species for a Local Nature Recovery Strategy recommends that only species that require bespoke measures are identified and that these bespoke measures are presented alongside the relevant species. However, acknowledging that many of the habitat measures designed for the benefit of a priority species offer wider benefits to other species of that habitat assemblage, it was determined that these should be embedded in the habitat potential measures.

Consequently, a number of the Kent and Medway priority species, while meeting the criteria as a priority, seemingly do not have dedicated potential measures. These are noted in this chapter as priority species requiring broad habitat measures, and the relevant habitat priority is identified alongside them.  Where a species requires a bespoke measure that will only benefit that particular species, this is noted in this chapter as priority species requiring bespoke measures – the bespoke measures for the priority species are provided in an appendix.

Mapping potential measures for the Kent and Medway priority species

Mapping of potential measures for the Strategy’s priority species has not been developed, due to the complex nature of the bespoke action required. To aid locating where action could be taken, priority species heat maps were developed for a number of habitat assemblages. The maps are based on the density of priority species for the habitat assemblage, enhanced with modelling to predict species density in areas that are unrecorded. The initial maps were reviewed and refined with the county’s species experts.

The maps identify the areas considered to offer the most benefits for priority species, using the density of priority species for that habitat assemblage as a proxy. The maps are indicative and are intended to provide additional and supporting information for delivery. Consequently, they should be used in consultation with species experts.