What is a Local Nature Partnership?

Durdle Door

Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) originate from the Government’s Natural Environment White Paper 2011, ‘The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature’.  In the paper the Government recognised the importance of partnership work in delivering positive environmental change at a local level. The aim of the resulting LNPs is to work within their local area, creating positive change through strategic, integrated management of the natural environment.

LNPs involve a broad range of stakeholders who are able to work with and influence decision makers, ensuring that the value of the natural environment is embedded in the local decision making process.

The Purpose of LNPs according to Defra is to:

  • Drive positive change in the local natural environment, taking a strategic view of the challenges and opportunities involved and identifying ways to manage it as a system for the benefit of nature, people and the economy.
  • Contribute to achieving the Government’s national environmental objectives locally, including the identification of local ecological networks, alongside addressing local priorities.
  • Become local champions influencing decision-making relating to the natural environment and its value to social and economic outcomes, in particular, through working closely with local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Health and Well-being Boards.
  • For Defra’s overview of the LNP role

Dorset’s LNP Recognised by the Government

In April 2012 the Government invited local areas to apply to become Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs). A shadow LNP for Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole had already been established, and we were notified by Defra in July 2012 that our application to be officially recognised as an LNP had been successful.

The Dorset LNP is one of 48 Local Nature Partnerships recognised by Defra across England.