Richard O’Callaghan, Lead External Affairs Officer at the Woodland Trust
Across the UK, local councils are stepping up to tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate breakdown. Many have already declared a climate emergency, but far fewer have taken the next vital step of formally declaring a nature emergency.
At the Woodland Trust, our Nature Emergency Scorecard asks councils to pass a full-council motion to earn top marks. That’s because a declaration is more than a gesture — it’s a statement of intent that gives nature the political weight it deserves.
When a council declares a nature emergency, it sends a clear signal of leadership and ambition. It elevates nature recovery from a niche concern to a strategic priority across departments — from planning and housing to health and transport. It empowers officers and communities to act with confidence and provides the mandate to make bold decisions, such as reducing pesticide use, protecting trees and embedding biodiversity in local plans.
Declarations also create accountability. They set a clear benchmark that residents, councillors and local groups can use to measure progress.
In this article we take a look at how Nature Emergency declarations are being aligned with the introduction of Local Nature Recovery Strategies in England.
When Dorset Council declared a nature emergency in July 2024 it tied its motion to the completion of its Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). The declaration made reversing biodiversity loss a core mission, not an optional extra.
Crucially, declarations bring people together. No council can restore nature alone — success depends on farmers, landowners, community groups, businesses and residents working in partnership. Dorset’s LNRS, developed with over 70 local organisations, now has a delivery group involving communities and landowners, showing how a declaration can help turn shared ambition into practical collaboration.
The completion of Local Nature Recovery Strategies is proving a particularly powerful trigger for councils in England to make these commitments. LNRSs provide the evidence base and shared priorities needed to underpin decisive leadership. Harborough District Council, for example, declared a nature emergency in October 2025 on the back of completing its LNRS, following Dorset’s lead in linking strategy with action.
A declaration is not an end in itself — it’s a beginning. Once the crisis is formally recognised, councils can embed nature into all decisions and take tangible steps to restore it: from creating wildlife corridors and supporting nature-friendly farming to investing in green infrastructure and tree planting.
Across England, more councils are joining this growing movement, demonstrating that local government can lead where others hesitate. Declaring a nature emergency is a simple but powerful act — one that shows courage, vision and commitment to a greener, fairer future. And when it follows the completion of an LNRS, it becomes not just a promise, but a plan in action.
We’ll explore how nature recovery is being taken forward elsewhere in the UK in a future blog post.