Planning for Nature Recovery: the role of spatial planning in preventing habitat and biodiversity loss

What is the problem? Habitat and biodiversity loss are a global nature emergency, and urbanisation is a key driver. With the UK now one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe, governments have recently introduced policies for nature recovery that operate through spatial planning systems. We call this 'Nature Recovery Planning', and it employs new market-oriented logics to count, evaluate, and mitigate habitat and biodiversity loss. From Autumn 2023, the English government will introduce Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). Ecologists will assess the quality and quantity of the habitat destroyed due to development. Developers will then mitigate this loss either by creating areas set aside for nature recovery on the development site or by purchasing offsite biodiversity credits. In Scotland, recently introduced planning policies emphasise the need to consider 'natural capital' (the idea that nature has economic value and provides essential services to humans) but BNG is not mandatory. However, at present, we do not have data on the extent of habitat and biodiversity loss associated with planning decisions under the previous and new policy regimes in either nation, which makes it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these new policies. We also do not know how much weight ecological considerations will hold compared to the other social, spatial, economic, and environmental objectives balanced by planning systems. Furthermore, it is unclear how the types and scales of mapping used for nature recovery and spatial planning relate to one another. Importantly, the introduction of new forms of ecological assessment raises wider theoretical questions about whose view of nature is conceptualised, counted and valued, and the democratic and social justice implications of these changes for key actors. What will the project achieve? This interdisciplinary project will provide the first analysis of Nature Recovery Planning in the context of wider spatial planning systems. It will generate: The first robust quantitative ecological assessment of habitat and biodiversity loss associated with planning decisions in England and Scotland, comparing the effectiveness of emerging nature recovery policies with previous policy regimes. A groundbreaking qualitative analysis of the weight and status granted to ecological considerations compared to other social, economic, and environmental objectives in spatial planning processes across England and Scotland. A detailed study of the mapping processes of nature recovery and spatial planning, comparing their logics, studying the degree of integration between them, and exploring their impact on the production of urban and natural space. The first in-depth understanding of the ways that emerging policy is changing the types of ecological knowledge and expertise that are valued in the planning system, exploring the social justice and democratic implications of the change for different actors in planning systems. A series of recommendations to improve planning policy and practice to better respond to habitat and biodiversity loss. We will produce robust interdisciplinary research that generates new, timely appraisals of this emerging policy approach, and is of academic relevance to scholars beyond planning studies, including environmental economists, conservation researchers, ecologists, geographers, and political ecologists. Findings will be of immediate interest to government policymakers, planning and ecology practitioners, conservation NGOs, and community groups, and the project has strong support from major national organisations in these areas. It will be supported by a match-funded Knowledge Exchange Associate, who will ensure findings inform policy and practice.