Biodiversity Report 2026

1.0 Oxford City Council and Biodiversity Duty

1.1. Introduction
1.2. Oxford City Council: Our Area
1.3. Defining Biodiversity
1.4. Environment Act (2021)
1.5. Biodiversity Duty
1.6. Reporting Period and Contents

1.1. Introduction

This report provides a briefing on the Biodiversity Dutyresponsibility placed upon Oxford City Council by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) as amended by the Environment Act (2021). The report covers actions to fulfil the first reporting period from 1 January 2023 to 1 January 2026 , in accordance with legislation and UK government guidance. This takes forward Oxford City Council’ first consideration report – 2024 (see Section 2.2).

1.2. Oxford City Council: Our Area

Oxford City Council is a local authority within the County of Oxfordshire. Oxford has a total area of approximately 46 sq km (17.6 sq miles). While parts of this urban area are very densely developed, 52% of the city is actually open space.

Some 27% of Oxford is in the Green Belt, with much of this land being flood plain. The historic city parks and nature conservation areas (including a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)), together with city parks create pockets and corridors of habitats within the city boundary.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy indicates that there are Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity, with parts of the city having potential to become areas of particular importance for biodiversity (see Section 3.8).

1.3. Defining Biodiversity

Within the Adopted Oxford Local Plan 2036,‘Biodiversity’ is defined as “the variety of plants and animals and other living things in a particular area or region. It encompasses habitat diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity. Biodiversity has value in its own right and has social and economic value for human society.”

The definition echoes the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) adopted by the British Government, with reference made to the Convention within the Environment Act (2021):

‘The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.’ UK Biodiversity Action Plan (1994).

An initial indicator of Oxford’s biodiversity is provided by the number of international, national and local nature conservation sites within the Council boundary:

1 European site for nature conservation (177 hectares)
12 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (278 hectares)
3 Local Nature Reserves (7 hectares)
14 county Local Wildlife Sites (125 hectares)
50 Sites of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (202 hectares)[footnote1]

1.4. Environment Act (2021)

At national level, the Environment Act (2021), Sections 1 and 2, sets-out government’s role in establishing Environmental Targets in priority areas: air quality, water, resource efficiency/ waste reduction and biodiversity. A regulatory framework is used to deliver these targets with reporting duties on progress made every 12 months (Sections 6 and 9). The act establishes an Environmental Improvement Plan for the country (Section 8) which the government has based upon A green future: our 25 year plan to improve the environment (The 25 Year Environment Plan).

Part 6 of the Act defines the role of Local Authorities. It establishes Biodiversity (Net) Gain (BNG) as a condition of planning permission through Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act (1990) or Schedule 2A of the Planning Act (2008); together with the BNG Hierarchy. Part 6 also establishes Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) and co-ordinates the duty of public authorities with the relevant strategy: in this case the Oxfordshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

1.5. The Biodiversity Duty

Importantly, Section 102 of the Environment Act amends Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) (2006) Act so that a Local Authority, as a public body, has a Duty to conserve [and enhance] biodiversity Complying with the Biodiversity Duty

In summary, Guidance from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)[footnote2] states that:

The end date of your first reporting period should be no later than 1 January 2026.
After this, the end date of each reporting period must be within 5 years of the end date of the previous reporting period.
You must include the start and end dates of your reporting period in each report.
You must publish all reports within 12 weeks of the reporting period end date.

NERC (2006) as amended by the Environment Act (2021) indicates that legally the biodiversity duty report must include:

a summary of the action an authority has taken to comply with the biodiversity duty.
how the authority plans 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.

1.6. Reporting Period and Contents

Since 1 January 2023, the Biodiversity Duty applies to all public authorities. These had 12 months (i.e. until 1 January 2024) to consider how they will comply with this duty and the actions they can take. Thereafter, authorities must set appropriate policies and specific objectives; and then implement actions. Realising the importance of the Act, Oxford City Council produced the “Implications of the Environment Act for Oxford City Council” report.

In 2024, government published further guidance setting out Biodiversity Duty reporting requirements of the act: Reporting your biodiversity duty actions.The first biodiversity report must cover a reporting period of no more than three years,

Local Planning Authorities are legally obligated to ensure the report contains the following information in three required sections:

A summary of action the council has taken to comply with the Biodiversity Duty (Section 2)
Any other information the council considers appropriate (Section 3)
How the Council plans to comply with the biodiversity duty in the next reporting period (Section 4)

Reports from local planning authorities must also include the following Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) information:

the actions the council carried out to meet BNG obligations (Section 2.11)
how the council plans to meet BNG obligations in the next reporting period (Section 4.7)
details of BNG resulting, or expected to result, from biodiversity gain plans the council has approved (Section 5)