Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked Questions

We have compiled a list of Q&As to help you to learn more about our unique partnership work with the Sussex Wildlife Trust and why Nature Recovery Networks (NRN) are so important.

In addition to these Q&As, more details including a range of associated maps, can be found in the 2021 Nature Recovery Networks Report.

The maps are still in development and will be improved and refined as more data is added. However the core of the NRN, such as the location of watercourses, will not change.

What are Nature Recovery Networks?
What is the Horsham District Nature Recovery Network Map?
Why do we need Nature Recovery Networks?
Why are waterways so important for the Nature Recovery Network?
What are Core Sites?
What are New Sites?
What are Biodiversity Opportunity Areas?
How can sites be made bigger through ‘buffering’?
How do corridors and stepping stones help the NRNs?
Is there funding available for landowners and community groups to support this work?
Are Nature Recovery Networks referenced in the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework?
What are the next steps for the Wilder Horsham District project?

1. What are Nature Recovery Networks?

A Nature Recovery Network is a joined-up system of places important for wild plants and animals, on land and at sea. It allows plants, animals, seeds, nutrients and water to move from place to place and enables the natural world to adapt to change. It provides plants and animals with places to live, feed and breed. It can only do this effectively if, like our road network, it is treated as a joined-up whole.

3. Why do we need Nature Recovery Networks?The idea of establishing NRNs was a significant commitment in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan as a way to reverse the dramatic decline in wildlife that has occurred over the last 50 years.

The Government’s Environment Bill is expected to introduce a statutory requirement to prepare local nature recovery strategies, including NRNs. Effective measures at policy level will also be important for enabling nature recovery.

Part of the aim of the NRN is the restoration of natural processes (1), in particular:

Natural Flood Management (2)
Natural Grazing (3) and
Ecological Succession (4)

This will bring benefits not only for wildlife but also for the communities of The District, such as through reduced flood risk and cleaner water.

The NRN can also make a significant contribution to tackling climate change by increasing carbon storage.

It could also bring health and wellbeing benefits by enabling people to increasingly enjoy and connect with nature where they live, work and play.

NOTES:

Natural Processes are the interactions that shape our planet and support life.
Natural flood management is when natural processes are used to reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. Examples include: restoring bends in rivers and changing the way land is managed so soil can absorb more water.
Grazing methods that mimic the natural grazing behaviour of wild herds. This can increase grass productivity by up to 300% and significantly improve soil quality.
Ecological succession is the gradual process by which ecosystems change and develop over time. Nothing remains the same and habitats are constantly changing.

2. What is the Horsham District Nature Recovery Network Map?

This map and associated document demonstrates what could be achieved and where action could be targeted to reverse the biodiversity crisis. However, the map is aspirational and is reliant on the good-will and expertise of land-owners and land-managers for delivery.

The Networks are based on the Lawton principles of: ‘Bigger’, ‘Better’, ‘More’ and ‘Joined Up’.

This first version of a map of a Horsham District NRN therefore identifies:

where buffers could be added to existing sites (bigger),
areas which can be improved (better),
areas with high potential for nature recovery (more) and
where there could be corridors or stepping stones between sites (joined up).

The map is still in development and will be improved and refined as more data is added; although the core of the NRN, such as the location of watercourses, will not change.

Undoubtedly there are areas that are rich in wildlife or have potential for nature recovery that do not appear on this first version of the map. The document should be considered with this in mind.

3. Why do we need Nature Recovery Networks?

The idea of establishing NRNs was a significant commitment in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan as a way to reverse the dramatic decline in wildlife that has occurred over the last 50 years.

Part of the aim of the NRN is the restoration of natural processes (1), in particular:

Natural Flood Management (2)
Natural Grazing (3) and
Ecological Succession (4)

Benefits of the NRN
The NRN will bring benefits for wildlife but also for the communities of The District, such as through reduced flood risk and cleaner water. The NRN can also make a significant contribution to tackling climate change by increasing carbon storage. It could also bring health and wellbeing benefits by enabling people to increasingly enjoy and connect with nature where they live, work and play.

NOTES:

Natural Processes are the interactions that shape our planet and support life.
Natural flood management is when natural processes are used to reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. Examples include: restoring bends in rivers and changing the way land is managed so soil can absorb more water.
Grazing methods that mimic the natural grazing behaviour of wild herds. This can increase grass productivity by up to 300% and significantly improve soil quality.
Ecological succession is the gradual process by which ecosystems change and develop over time. Nothing remains the same and habitats are constantly changing.

4. Why are waterways so important for the Nature Recovery Network?

Water bodies, especially rivers, are extremely important in an NRN. The restoration of Natural Flood Management is vital for holding water in the landscape both for improving habitat quality and for preventing flooding of settlements.

In connectivity terms, rivers are natural corridors, as well as being valuable habitats in their own right, and so can form the basis of a NRN. The District has the advantage of having two major river systems that cover most of the area: The Adur and its tributaries form a network that covers the central and South Eastern parts of the District. Tributaries of the Arun flow through the north of the district and the main river runs down the western boundary.

Wet habitats, especially wet woodlands, are some of the most biodiverse habitats in the UK and the drying up of the landscape has been a significant factor in the recent biodiversity loss, especially in declines of invertebrates. Habitat restoration along watercourses has huge potential for driving species recovery.

Water quality is also extremely important for both people and wildlife and vegetated buffer zones along watercourses are effective in removing pollutants from surface run-off.

Returning sections of our waterways to a more natural state would slow down the flow and create a more balanced system of water circulation.

In particular the proposed licenced reintroduction of beaver to the District would restore a keystone species that would have far-reaching ecological benefits.

5. What are the Core Sites?

These sites are the core of the network. View the map in the Nature Recovery Networks report. They are existing sites that have already been identified as being crucial to wildlife in the District because of either their intrinsic quality, that they are managed with wildlife and nature as the key drivers, or both.

The Network should aim to improve the quality of these sites, many of which already have statutory obligations for management or protection through local provisions.

The Core Sites include the

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI),
Local Wildlife Sites (LWS),
Nature Reserves (SWT, NT and RSPB) and
Sites managed by Forestry England.
Also included are the Natural Capital Assets in the District;. They are considered by the Sussex Local Nature Partnership, in their Sussex Natural Capital Investment Strategy, to be at risk. The habitats concerned are: Floodplain Woodland, Lowland Fen, Reedbed, Lowland Heath, Acid Grassland, Intertidal Mudflat, Lowland Meadow and Lowland Calcareous Grassland. See the Sussex Local Nature Partnership’s website for more details.

The rewilding project at Knepp is also included in these core sites. This site is important for two reasons. As a rewilding project it has shown what can be achieved for Nature Recovery. Additionally, in terms of the NRN it occupies a strategic position almost exactly in the centre of the District. It is therefore ideally placed to serve as a hub for the Nature Recovery Network.

6. What are the New Sites?

These are areas within the District that have been identified as having very high potential for Nature Recovery. View the map in the Nature Recovery Networks report.

These sites are a high priority to target with management advice because of not only the significant contribution they could make to Nature Recovery but also because of the connectivity they provide between other sites.

Ideally as much of this area as possible would become part of the core of the Nature Recovery Network with management to benefit nature.

The location of these sites is fixed by their geography and/or underlying geology.

The main areas are:

those where heathland or acid grassland restoration is possible (mainly on the greensand),
where lowland calcareous grassland restoration is possible (on the chalk of the South Downs) or
where restoration of wet habitats are possible (mainly along the river valleys and tributaries of 0he Adur and the Arun).

7. What are Biodiversity Opportunity Areas?

Biodiversity Opportunity Areas (BOAs) are another targeted landscape-scale approach to conserving biodiversity and are the basis for an ecological network. View the map in the Nature Recovery Networks report.

Each area, selected through broad consultation, has a set of conservation priorities for biodiversity so that habitat enhancement, restoration and recreation projects can make the most of opportunities to establish large areas of habitat and connections between them.

There are twelve BOAs that are wholly or partly within the District, these are:

Adur to Newtimber;
Woods Mill Steam to Adur;
North Bramber Floodplain;
Central Downs Arun to Adur;
Lower Adur Arun Watershed;
Knepp Estate with Fluvial extensions;
The Mens and Associated Barbastelle Flightlines;
Parham to Fittleworth;
Ifield Brook;
The St. Leonard’s Watershed;
Rusper Ridge and
Houghton to Coldwaltham.

8. How can sites be made bigger through ‘buffering’?

Existing or proposed core sites could be made bigger with buffering, in other words by providing a transition habitat that protects the main habitat.

Buffers vary in size and composition depending on the size and type of area they are protecting. Any size of buffer is generally an improvement but, of course the bigger the better.

Quite a lot of work has been done on the size of buffers for different habitats. Twenty metres has often been used as a “rule of thumb” buffer width with thirty metres for more sensitive sites such as ancient woodlands. However, it can be very site specific and a number of methodologies have been devised to calculate buffer sizes.

Typically wet features need the biggest buffers and if all large water courses in the District could have a 30m buffer with 12m buffer for the smaller water courses then that would be hugely beneficial.

Buffers that are intended to provide wildlife habitat and woody debris or maintain water temperatures need to be at least 30m.

Some of the potentially very highly biodiverse wet habitats such as riparian woodland benefit from a much wider buffer to hold the moisture and maintain habitat quality. Research suggests that some species groups, such as birds, may require wider buffers of up to 144m (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109391). Obviously, buffers will be very site specific and will need to take into account current land uses but the NRN should aim for a high standard supported by ecological principles.

9. How do corridors and stepping stones help the NRNs?

The core sites combined with what might be termed the ‘fixed’ areas for improvement provide a very solid foundation for a Nature Recovery Network. However there are still gaps and there are some potential links to join up the network more fully.

These could be corridors with a nearly complete habitat connection or more like stepping stones with a series of habitat patches facilitating movement. Indeed because of the built infrastructure in the district, especially the road network, only the shortest links will be continuous corridors, and most will contain stepping stone elements. This is where there is an exciting opportunity to engage with landowners in the rest of the District, which is most of it. Knepp has shown what can be achieved on farmland through wilding techniques and more such areas would certainly be beneficial. However, wilding is by no means the only way to improve biodiversity and regenerative agriculture and stewardship options can also increase the value and permeability of the landscape for wildlife.

In the longer term the NRN would really benefit from infrastructure, such as Green Bridges, that allows the habitats to cross the major roadways in the district.

The links shown in these maps are based partly on what seem logical routes to take based on the known habitats but at the moment they are indicative. These links are potentially much more fluid than other parts of the network and the final form will depend on engagement by landowners and communities.

10. Is there funding available for landowners and community groups to support this work?

Yes. Wilder Horsham District now has a grant award scheme - The Nature Recovery Award - available to support landowners and communities wishing to implement practical projects to expand and improve networks for wildlife across our local landscape in both urban and rural areas. The scheme facilitates projects of any size up to a maximum of £5,000.

Find out more or submit an application

11. Are Nature Recovery Networks referenced in the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework?

Yes. The National Planning Policy Framework contains several paragraphs relating to NRN’s and the planning system. The key paragraphs are set out below for information.

It should be noted that the government periodically updates the NPPF, supporting planning guidance and publish ministerial statements. The most up to date information will always be available on the government’s website. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework--2

Paragraph 174:

“Planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by:

(d) minimising impacts on and providing net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures”

Paragraph 175:

“Plans should: distinguish between the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites; allocate land with the least environmental or amenity value, where consistent with other policies in the Framework, take a strategic approach to maintaining and enhancing networks of habitats and green infrastructure; and plan for the enhancement of natural capital at a catchment or landscape scale across local authority boundaries.”

Paragraph 179:

“To protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, plans should:

(a) Identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, in the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity, wildlife corridors and stepping stones that connect them; and areas identified by national and local partnerships for habitat management, enhancement, restoration or creation”

The above paragraph includes the following footnote:

“Where areas that are part of the Nature Recovery Network are identified in plans, it may be appropriate to specify the types of development that may be suitable within them”.

12. What are the next steps for the Wilder Horsham District project?

The Nature Recovery Network map (View the map in the Appendix of the Nature Recovery Networks report) is only the first iteration. It is based on the available evidence but as the project progresses and more data is added or becomes available the map will be further refined. In particular we will consider the following areas:

Refining the habitat and habitat potential data: Some of the data on the map is already very accurate such as the designated sites and Habitat Potential models but some is more broad brush. As more accurate data becomes available, either through work by the Project or via other means, it will be added to the map.
Adding species data: Many species groups are well recorded in the District and where data exists it can be used to refine the NRN and inform the types of habitat improvements required to make the network effective. For example the “B-Lines” work of Buglife can be used to target areas for wildflower meadow creation. Caution must be used with some data however because survey effort for many species is not even across the District. Lack of records does not necessarily mean that a species is absent.
Mapping at more refined scales:This first version of the NRN map has been produced at the District scale which is a fairly course resolution. More detailed mapping at a finer scale for example at a catchment scale, a Parish scale or a settlement scale will help inform how the pieces of the network can actually be put together. For example we will consider how a NRN could be built through Horsham Town itself.
Linking with habitats beyond the District: At the moment the mapping stops at the District boundary. This makes sense in terms of the Project, but it is, obviously, not a boundary that is recognised by Nature. A future iteration of the map will look at a buffer around the District and consider how the network could link up beyond the boundary.
Changes in the District: The most important aspect of the map is to act as a guide to effect Nature Recovery. The Wilder Horsham District Project will be working with landowners, communities, and partners to try and create more bigger and better habitats and more links between them. As these emerge, they will also be mapped showing the progression towards a wilder Horsham District.