By Sofía Muñoz and Scott Mitchell, Senior Specialists for Data Engagement and Analysis, Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme
This blog explains what Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) are, why they matter, and the importance of the new online hub where people can go for information about their own LWSs.
It's not only our best-known landscapes which matter for nature. Alongside designated areas like National Parks and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), there's a vast and often overlooked network of 44,000 places across England that matter for wildlife and for people: Local Wildlife Sites. But while Local Wildlife Sites (LWSs) are often well-known and valued locally, their potential to support nature recovery hasn't always been visible at a regional and national scale.
Today, the Wildlife Trusts are publishing a new online hub for LWSs, the result of an ambitious partnership with Natural England, made possible by funding from the UK government’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme. The hub brings together information from across the country to create a national picture, helping communities, planners, and policy-makers make better decisions about these sites.
What LWSs do for usLWSs don't carry the statutory protection of designations like SSSIs, but their contribution to nature and to people is significant. They’re identified at a local level by the people who know their areas best, and are selected for biodiversity and nature conservation value. Found on both public and private land, they can act as stepping stones and refuges for wildlife, help connect fragmented habitats, and provide valuable ecosystem services, from flood protection to cleaner air. Where they are accessible, they provide places for people to connect with the natural world.
A screenshot showing maps available on the hub, including the % coverage and number of LWS by area. A national landing page for LWSsThe hub will serve as a national landing page for LWSs. It will raise awareness of these sites and their importance, provide accessible information to the public and existing LWS stakeholders, and signpost users to their relevant Local Wildlife Site partnership or Local Environmental Records Centre (LERC).
It also includes maps of the number and total area covered by LWSs , assembled by the Wildlife Trusts using information shared by LWS partnerships across the country. These show that LWSs cover over 750,000 hectares – over six times the area covered by National Nature Reserves, and approaching the 1,000,000+ ha covered by Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
Alongside the new hub, we've also updated the guidance on local sites (Local Wildlife Sites and Local Geological Sites) and best practice for selecting and managing sites.
How will the hub be used?The hub will support local communities to learn about and care for these sites, better understand their value, and discover and enjoy those of them which are open to the public.
Having this evidence in one place will also make it easier for LWSs to be considered in policy development and implementation at multiple scales, such as within 30by30, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and land use planning and decision-making.
The new online hub, hosted by the Wildlife Trusts. An uneven national patchworkOne of the most striking things that this work illuminates is just how differently LWSs are distributed in different parts of the country. These regional differences will have implications for nature recovery. LWSs may be particularly important in an area where protected legal categories are sparse. In Birmingham and the Black Country, for example, although under 2% of the area is covered by SSSIs (against an average of 8% for England), a further 6.8% is covered by LWSs.
In Wiltshire, meanwhile, according to figures from the Wildlife Trusts, 75% of the county’s deciduous woodland is found in LWSs, compared with just 10% in SSSIs. While not all LWSs are in favourable condition or positive conservation management, LWSs can be of equal or higher biodiversity value than SSSIs.
Cabila Woods, Cornwall. Image © Laura Snell. Built on partnershipThis work would not have been possible without the many LWS partnerships across England who have spent years, in some cases decades, gathering and maintaining local evidence. We're enormously grateful to them, and to the local custodians of these sites, for their expertise and dedication.
The project was funded through the UK government's Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme (NCEA), Defra's largest research and development programme. NCEA is assessing England's land, freshwater and coastal ecosystems to produce a baseline of our natural assets by 2029, enabling a natural capital approach to policy and decision-making.
seen at 10:46, 10 September in Natural England.