Biodiversity Report 2026

Contents

• 2.1. Introduction
• 2.2. First Considerations
• 2.3. Oxford City Council’s Biodiversity Policy
• 2.4. Adopted Development Plan
• 2.5. Biodiversity Action Plan Review (2023)
• 2.6. Green Space Strategy (2013-2027)
• 2.7. Oxford Urban Forest Strategy (2021-2050)
• 2.8. Grass verge management (2023)
• 2.9. Zero Carbon Initiatives
• 2.10. Protected Site Strategies/ Management Plans
• 2.11. Biodiversity Net Gain: Actions (February 2024 to January 2026)

2.1. Introduction

The following section sets out the current (since 2023) policies and objectives for meeting the biodiversity duty.  

2.2. First Considerations

The immediate action by Oxford City Council was to undertake a “first consideration”, in accordance with the guidance, to identify the work of Oxford City Council that contributes towards the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity. The final Report on First Consideration of Oxford City Council’s Biodiversity Duty was published in July 2024. This report highlights the main areas of the Council’s work that initially helped to deliver the 'biodiversity duty' prior to and following the Environment Act (2021) amendments to NERC (2006). It includes the conservation and enhancement actions provided by the:

• Green Spaces Strategy (2013-2027)
• A Biodiversity Action Plan for Oxford City Council (2015 – 2020)
• Biodiversity Review for Oxford City Council Parks and Nature Areas 2020
• Review of Biodiversity Action Plan (Sept 2023)
• Oxford Urban Forest Strategy: A Master Plan to 2050
• Oxford Local Plan 2036 (currently being revised)

Activity then moved into hiatus due to staff resourcing, caused in no small part by competition for ecological expertise because of the Environment Act (2021), with a new permanent Ecology team appointed in June 2025.Since this time, work of the team has prioritised statutory/regulatory duties, primarily focusing on ensuring planning applications and decisions incorporate protected species/habitats and BNG requirements: with enhancement focusing on measures to enhance species and habitats identified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), Habitats Regulations (2017) and Section 41 of NERC (2006), and ensuring compliance with the Oxford Local Plan 2036. In October 2025, action was commenced to collect statistics on these actions.

The following section sets out policies, objectives and actions active within the 2023 to 2026 reporting period.

2.3. Oxford City Council’s Biodiversity Policy

Core Strategy 2011-2026

Policy CS12 of the Oxford City Council Core Strategy set out the council’s biodiversity policy for the 2023 to 2026 reporting period.  The policy was to provide a hierarchy of protection for Oxford’s biodiversity resource, and to protect and (where there was opportunity) enhance Oxford’s biodiversity. The Core Strategy was, however, superseded by the Oxford Local Plan (see Section 2.4).

2.4. Adopted Development Plan (Oxford Local Plan 2020-2036)

The statutory Development Plan for Oxford sets out agreed planning policies for the city against which planning decisions are made. The Oxford Development Plan consists of the Local Plan 2036, site specific Area Action Plans and Neighbourhood Development Plans.

Protection of biodiversity within Oxford centres on Policies G1 and G2, although the Local Plan takes account of biodiversity, linked to ecosystem services and natural capital across a number of policy areas (see below). Given the urban area of Oxford, the Local Plan recognises the close proximity of the community to areas of biodiversity value and the worth of green spaces in not only providing recreation, health and wellbeing; but also, opportunities from the network of open spaces to promote biodiversity and assist in climate change adaption.

The plan also recognises that sites of local, national and international importance for biodiversity need protection, particularly in respect to housing/ homes, sustainable design/ construction and land use (see Policies H12, H13, RE1and RE9). The plan recognises that a combined network of green and blue infrastructure (rivers and wetlands) provide multiple benefits for water management, air quality, wellbeing, amenity, recreation, heritage, jobs, tourism and the wider social, environmental and economic functions of Oxford, with Policy G7 setting out the need to protect Green Infrastructure (specifically, trees, woodland and hedgerow), providing a link to Section 41 of NERC (2006) priority/ principal habitats of conservation importance. In general, the plan identifies the importance of green and blue spaces such as the Green Belt, recreational areas, allotments, watercourses, etc (see Policies G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5).  Potential benefits from biodiversity to employment sites are also recognised within Policy E1 for poorly performing Category 3 Employment Sites.

Policy G2 incorporates protection of statutory biodiversity sites of national and international importance: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in accordance with the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), as amended and the Habitats and Species Regulations (2017). The policy also applies the mitigation hierarchy to development, as set out by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), to Local Wildlife Sites (LWS), Oxford City Wildlife Sites (OCWS) and Local Geological Sites (LGS).

Policy G2 pre-dated statutory BNG requirements established by the Environment Act (2021), but did require new development to incorporate measures to enhance biodiversity, including net gain. As a result, prior to the enactment in England of BNG (February and April 2024) requiring a net gain of 10%, Oxford City Council had already placed a requirement for 5%, using the compensatory provision of the NPPF mitigation hierarchy. There is also a link between development compensation, and enhancement, for loss of biodiversity through Policy G6 in respect to residential garden land where planning permission is required.

Specific policy development for Ecosystem Services in respect to trees, woodland and enhancement of canopy cover is identified by Policy G7.  The Plan also identifies specific biodiversity enhancement measures to be considered by planning applications: such as bird and bat boxes, and landscape planting to create wildlife corridors. Additionally, the Local Plan identifies green and brown roofs/ walls as biodiversity enhancement features within new developments. Policy G8 highlights the importance of including such biodiversity enhancements within supporting Design and Access Statements (see also Policy DH1 and Appendix 6 of the Local Plan) and to create linkages to the wider Green Infrastructure Network and surrounding countryside.

The local plan also links retention and enhancement of biodiversity to design and placemaking of new development (Policy DH1)

In addition to Policy G8, areas allocated for development have specific biodiversity related policies. These include: Oxford Business Park (Policy SP10), Knights Road (Policy SP15), and Government Buildings and Harcourt House (Policy SP16), Pear Tree Farm (Policy SP28), Land East of Redbridge Park and Ride (Policy SP29), St Catherine’s College Land (Policy SP30), Bertie Place Recreation Ground and Land Behind Wytham Street (Policy SP32), Former Iffley Mead Playing Fields (Policy SP38), Land at Meadow Lane (Policy SP42), Littlemore Park (Policy SP44), Pullens Lane (Policy SP53) . The biodiversity aspects of these policies centre on the assessing biodiversity and mitigation, which are normally legal requirements or established under the NPPF. It is notable that improvements related to better connectivity and wildlife corridors, although mentioned in the Local Plan text are not incorporated into the policy text (e.g. Policy SP22: Warneford Hospital); whilst the NPPF does encourage the creation and protection of ecological networks and wildlife corridors.

Policies have also identified biodiversity enhancements at specific sites, including: hedgerows and native planting (Policy SP24: St Frideswide Farm), although this is not always consistently applied, e.g. Policy SP26: Land west of Mill Lane.

More detailed information on consideration of biodiversity in the planning process for Oxford can be found at: Biodiversity in the planning process.

Information to applicants is also provided by a series of Technical Advice Notes (TANs). TANs 8, 9 and 18 provide further related information on Biodiversity, Green Spaces, Biodiversity Net Gain and the Local Plan.

2.5. Biodiversity Action Plan Review (2023)

Outside of the reporting period for this document, Oxford City Council developed a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for the period of 2013-2020. The Council undertook a review of the BAP in 2023, which falls within the period of reporting actions which contribute to the Biodiversity Duty.

The review sets out the Council’s green resource of 600 hectares of green space that include:

• One countryside park (Shotover)
• 33 countryside sites/nature areas (two managed externally under lease agreements)
• 62 urban parks and public gardens
• 29 allotments (all leased by individual associations)
• 4 Cemeteries

Within the City approximately 25% of the Thames riverbank in Oxford, together with parts of the River Cherwell, Castle Mill, Bulstake and Weirs Mill are owned by the City Council, providing a significant potential resource as wildlife/ green corridors to maintain connectivity for biodiversity.

Importantly, the review identified the greenspace management in Oxford for:

• Enhancing green corridors and wildlife connectivity between sites by increasing wider availability and range of habitat to address fragmentation
• Reducing fuel use and carbon emissions by reducing areas maintained as short grass through ten-day cyclical seasonal mowing (and staff resources)
• Reducing moisture loss of the ground during the increasingly hot, dry summers resulting from climate change by maintaining more areas of longer grass and other vegetational cover
• Reduce the need for regular watering of seasonal bedding plants during propagation and once planted by replacing them with more sustainable forms of planting
• Increasing the number and range of plants for pollinating insects
• Improving air quality by increasing vegetation and tree cover in the city

The review also identified the threat posed by invasive species such as the spread of Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed.The review sets out the then current initiatives to support biodiversity and increase sustainability, including site management plans that should link to any further Biodiversity Strategy (see Section 4). These are detailed as a set of 12 priority projects and a number of smaller urban park projects. Collectively, these provide a framework for developing further actions.

2.6. Green Space Strategy (2013-2027)

To support the delivery of the Oxford Green Space Strategy (2013-2027), the City Council established a collaborative partnership to deliver the strategy in accordance with priorities of sharing best practice and developing joined up projects. These priorities are underpinned by funding and biodiversity.

Aim 4 of the Strategy seeks to promote the central role that green spaces play in contributing to the city’s biodiversity, sustainability, heritage and culture. An additional purpose of the Strategy (linked to the initiatives Aim 6) is to engage communities in biodiversity projects for preserving the city’s biodiversity (Objective 25).

The Action Plan for the Strategy (Section 9) with respect to Aim 4 provides a series of actions under Objectives 20 and 21. Results from these actions could form the basis for Biodiversity Indicators to inform future reporting.

Objective 21 of the Strategy establishes a framework to protect and enhance biodiversity with respect to international, national and locally important wildlife sites; develop a Biodiversity Strategy; create new and enlarge existing habitats, ensure the protection, enhancement and creation of wildlife corridors and protection of prosaic (endemic) species in all sites. This last point seeks to enable climate change resilience for range change species in accordance with the Lawton Review (see Section 3.4).

A link is also made between promoting biodiversity and the management of the City’s allotments (Objectives 03 and 11), incorporating biodiversity into the design of parks and open spaces (Objective 11).  The strategy has a future aim of fitting with an emerging biodiversity strategy for Oxford and the then established Oxfordshire (County) Biodiversity Action Plan. The Strategy also provides a framework for linking the management of the City’s parks and open spaces to the authority’s responsibilities under the Biodiversity Duty (Section 40, NERC (2006). In addition, the Green Space Strategy highlights the need for a Biodiversity Strategy under the duty to ensure a joined up approach to biodiversity through effective partnership working and integrate biodiversity conservation efforts across the city.

Section 9 of the Strategy sets out an Action Plan for delivery, together with details on Monitoring and Review via a panel of officers and key stakeholders. The panel produces an annual report which could provide indicators on progress of actions that link to the Biodiversity Duty. Alternatively, information to support the Biodiversity Duty Report could be generated through analysis of the milestones being reached under the how are we going to do it information in the Aim 4 table (pp 30-32 of the Green Spaces Strategy). 

2.7. Oxford Urban Forest Strategy (2021-2050)

In September 2021, the Council adopted the  Urban Forest Strategy - a Master Plan to 2050 as a comprehensive framework for managing the urban forest of Oxford. The primary aim of the strategy is to maximise benefits for nature and all residents and visitors in Oxford. The strategy does cover elements of biodiversity but should not be viewed as a biodiversity strategy. Rather, it should be used in conjunction with a future Biodiversity Strategy, i.e. it is complementary. The strategy contains two biodiversity related aims to:

• maintain and enhance Oxford’s Urban Forest to secure its biodiversity value and the ecosystem services which flow from it
• create a healthier place for people in nature and provide a richer biodiversity in deprived parts of Oxford

More detailed aims related to biodiversity include: habitat management, biosecurity, forest diversity, improve biodiversity and contribute to nature recovery areas (see Section 4.0) and increasing canopy cover (which provides a direct link to the national Environment Improvement Plan (2023),  see Section 3.3.The strategy also aims to mitigate the urban heat island effect (see below) of climate change through increasing the canopy cover of Oxford. Importantly, the Strategy also provides a biodiversity related monitoring indicator through measuring canopy cover every 10 years.The strategy objectives do link to biodiversity benefits of woodland through:

• Larger, older trees sustain and enhance urban biodiversity when maintained in good ecological condition (Objective 1).
• Taking an ecosystem service approach that balances biodiversity, carbon storage and other ecosystem services helps to identify and prioritise the benefits (Objective 1).

With a dedicated objective to improve biodiversity and contribute to nature recovery areas (Objective 6) through:

• More, bigger, better, joined is the approach we need to take in order to halt biodiversity loss.
• Our urban forest can contribute to providing new habitat for wildlife and joining up habitats.
• Native species planting should be prioritised wherever possible.
• Where non-native trees are planted they should be near native varieties with edible fruit, seeds or nectar.
• Tree and vegetation management should consider biodiversity. E.g. leaving fallen and standing deadwood wherever possible for the biodiversity benefits it brings and reducing over clearance of vegetation such as shrubs.
• Tree planting can be detrimental to habitats with existing biodiversity value as non-woodland habitats such as fens and flower rich grassland.

A key element to the strategy is to ensure biodiversity is built into tree management plans and grounds management plans using best-practice guidance by landowners, land managers and businesses. This links to BNG provision in new developments. The strategy also identifies “tiny forest” initiatives at Meadow Lane Nature Reserve and Foxwell Drive; and the ongoing management of woodland at Shotover.In October 2025 an Action Plan for delivery was produced which focuses on increasing canopy cover based on a “Canopy Cover Assessment” using the National Tree Map data methodology linked to GIS. The approach is used to identify priorities and show progress in comparison to historic data.

2.8. Grass verge management (2023)

In 2023, Oxfordshire County Council introduced a new verge maintenance policy, which resulted in grass verges in Oxford being cut once a year. Following significant public feedback and budget approval in February 2025, Oxford City Council funds two additional cuts for the majority of verges across the city, alongside the single cut paid for by Oxfordshire County Council. The cutting of verges, sits within a wider grass cutting schedule (2025) set out in the following table:

As detailed, part of the schedule contributes to wildlife enhancement through the inclusion of nine biodiversity verges. The ‘cut and collect’ procedure for cuttings is to suppress grass growth and create the ground conditions favoured by wildflowers.

The grass verge management policy also identifies other council unquantified activity which may support biodiversity through:

• Dead wood habitats in parks and green spaces 
• Informal long grass in selected areas of parks and nature areas 
• Tree planting across the city 
• Community orchards 

2.9. Zero Carbon Initiatives

The Zero Carbon Oxfordshire Partnership (ZCOP) is made up of around 30 partners across the county, one of the main stakeholders being Oxford City Council.  Other partners include the County Council, district councils, the Universities, the Hospitals and  various commercial organisations such as BMW, Unipart, Lucy Group, Blenheim Palace etc.  The partnership’s aim is to collaborate to achieve a net zero county before 2050.  Zero Carbon Oxfordshire website.

The Local Carbon Oxford Project (LCOP) was an Oxford City based externally funded trial aiming to link up organisations in Oxford City who wanted to contribute to emissions reduction or climate action related activities. 

2.10. Protected Site Strategies/ Management Plans

Four of the City’s large green spaces: Iffley Meadows (managed under agreement by BBOWT), Shotover Country Park, Port Meadow, and Lye Valley are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s), with Port Meadow having further statutory protection as a Special Area of Conservation.

Previously, management initiatives had been developed as part of the Wild Oxford Project (Raleigh Park, Rivermead Nature Reserve, Chilswell Valley and Lye Valley (SSSI)). Biodiversity action plans (within the Green Flag Management Plans) were originally created for Cutteslowe and Florence Parks, including a specific hedgehog protection plan form Florence Park. Management of these areas have now been combined under the Green Spaces Strategy (2013-2027), see Section 2.6.

The City Council and ODS Countryside Team are currently working with the Freshwater Habitat's Trust to utilise government grants to maintain and enhance a number of habitats across Oxford and the surrounding area. 

Conservation Target Areas: Four Conservation Target Areas (CTAs) have been acknowledged within the local development plan (see Section 2.4) and the Greenspace Strategy. Previously identified within the State of Nature in Oxfordshire Report (2017), there are 39 CTAs across Oxfordshire which support one or more of 20 priority habitats within the County that could achieve the greatest gains for habitat enhancement. The four within the Council’s boundary are Oxford Meadows and Farmoor CTA, Shotover CTA, Thames and Cherwell at Oxford CTA, Oxford Heights West CTA. These are identified within  Policy G8 of the Local Development Plan (see Section 2.4)   which supports maintaining a Green and Blue Network and connectivity/ wildlife corridors in Oxford.

Identified strategies should be integrated within a Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for Oxford.

2.11. Biodiversity Net Gain: Actions (February 2024 to January 2026)

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) has been mandatory since 12 February 2024 for major sites and 2 April 2024 for small sites.

Oxford City Council had a requirement for major sites to achieve a minimum 5% gain in biodiversity net gain prior to further legislative requirements applying a 10% net gain in 2024.

To meet BNG obligations the council has carried out the following actions:

• Deliver internal training for case officers to provide a clear introduction to biodiversity net gain (BNG) and its role within the planning system.
• Provide technical consultation to planning services to ensure that all submitted documents meet the legislative requirements of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (Schedule 7A, as amended) and the Environment Act 2021, as well as relevant statutory guidance.
• Review planning conditions to ensure they are robust, fit for purpose, and capable of securing effective BNG delivery.
• Develop a standardised Section 106 template to secure biodiversity net gain both onsite and offsite.
• Assess and calculate monitoring costs on a case‑by‑case basis to ensure appropriate long‑term resourcing.
• Work collaboratively with habitat suppliers to facilitate the delivery of biodiversity units within Oxford City, offering technical support and identifying further actions required to strengthen local delivery.
• Support the new Local Plan, which emphasises the importance of securing biodiversity net gain locally and prioritising delivery within Oxford.
• Reviewal of Biodiversity Gain Plans and associated documents to ensure that developments are able to achieve the 10% gains and satisfy Trading Rules.

In addition to the above actions that the council has carried out to meet its BNG obligations, a feasibility study has been undertaken to establish whether it is possible to use some of the council’s land holdings for the purpose of BNG habitat banking within the city. At the time of writing, the feasibility study is complete and conclusions are being drawn up for recommendations to Councillors.