Cornwall has been recognised as a leader in the development of our approach to responding to the climate and ecological emergencies, alongside ongoing work to adapt to the already changing climate. In 2021, Cornwall Council declared an Ecological Emergency in recognition that Cornwall’s nature was in serious trouble as highlighted by the Cornwall State of Nature report published in 2020.

The pressures faced by nature are complex and multi-faceted. No single organisation or individual is tasked with delivering nature recovery alone; it requires a system-wide approach. Cornwall Council recognises our role as a systems leader, supported by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Nature Partnership and other vital delivery partnerships.

This page is host to our response to Biodiversity Duty as required and set out in the Environment Act 2021.

Our Grow Nature Action Plan forms part of Cornwall Council’s response to the ecological emergency, leading on from our groundbreaking Environmental Growth Strategy in 2020 and recent publication of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Nature Recovery Strategy (adopted March 2025) and Marine Nature Recovery Framework (adopted December 2025).

This plan sets out how Cornwall Council are going to deliver against the new Enhanced Biodiversity Duty between 2026 and 2030. Importantly, it embeds nature recovery across the authority’s services, functions and processes, demonstrating how we are striving to lead by example in our role as Responsible Authority for developing, coordinating and reporting on the delivery of the groundbreaking statutory Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Nature Recovery Strategy (NRS). The scope of the actions set out in this plan also extend into our seas, demonstrating how we are responding to our voluntary Marine Nature Recovery Framework (MNRF), which is a first of its kind for a local authority in England. This plan sets out how Cornwall Council can contribute to local and national targets in the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan.

The plan has been developed in collaboration with Services across Cornwall Council through internal engagement and consultation activities through 2026/26, resulting in a suite of actions for nature recovery that are grouped under four over-arching Missions:

Mission 1 – Land, rivers and seas: Working towards at least 30% of land, rivers and seas well managed for nature by 2030

Mission 2 – Nature-positive decision making: Embedding nature into local decision making and organisations

Mission 3 – Resilient communities: Making our economy and communities more resilient through nature-based solutions

Mission 4 – Local action: Empowering One and All to take action for nature

The Nature Recovery Team will provide strategic leadership over the Grow Nature Action Plan, lead directly on a number of initiatives and provide assurance over the wider programme. However, accountability for delivery of actions sits with relevant lead services.

The plan is intended to set the scope of our ambition and direction of travel. More detailed step-by-step activities will be developed by each service lead. Measures of success and key performance indicators will also be developed where appropriate, through engagement with lead officers and will be published and monitored separately as part of the corporate assurance processes.

The Grow Nature Action Plan has multiple interfaces with other plans, processes and strategies and seeks to reflect these. Foremost is the relationship between climate and nature. We can achieve solutions across the three challenges of climate mitigation, climate adaptation and nature recovery through increased use of nature-based solutions. These include carbon sequestration and natural flood management helping to manage water quality and quantity, in turn increasing community resilience.

Cornwall Council is fully committed to delivering a healthier environment, vibrant communities and a resilient economy for the people and nature of Cornwall. Grow Nature sets out how we intend to enable nature to recover, restore our natural environment and ensure a sustainable and nature-rich future for Cornwall with happier and healthier communities.

Reporting on Enhanced Biodiversity Duty

All local authorities must publish a report on how they have complied with the biodiversity duty set out in the Environment Act 2021.

The biodiversity duty means that we must:

1. Consider what we can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity.

2. Agree policies and specific objectives based on our consideration.

3. Act to deliver our policies and achieve our objectives.

This report documents the policies and actions that the County Council have carried out between since recognition of the biodiversity duty in the Environment act 2021 to 31 December 2025 so we can have more nature which is bigger, better and joined up.

By law, our report must include:

• a summary of the action you’ve taken to comply with the biodiversity duty
• how you plan to comply with the biodiversity duty in the next reporting period
• any other information you consider appropriate

Reports from local planning authorities must also include the following biodiversity net gain (BNG) information:

• the actions you’ve carried out to meet BNG obligations
• details of BNG resulting, or expected to result, from biodiversity gain plans you’ve approved
• how you plan to meet BNG obligations in the next reporting period

More information on biodiversity duty and our reporting obligations can be found here:

Complying with the biodiversity duty - GOV.UK

Reporting your biodiversity duty actions - GOV.UK

Staying up to date

The Biodiversity Duty document a static reflection of how we are working to meet our Biodiversity Duty.

For a more up to date snapshot of our ongoing work please visit our dedicated nature recovery hub and sign up to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Nature Partnership Newsletter.

Nature Recovery Hub | Let's Talk Cornwall

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For any queries please contact:

Grow-nature@cornwall.gov.uk