Biodiversity Report 2026

Contents

• 4.1. Introduction
• 4.2. Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
• 4.3. Avoiding Ecological Loss, Damage and Degradation
• 4.4. Promoting Biodiversity Enhancement
• 4.5. Delivering Co-benefits
• 4.6. Co-Benefits: Natural Carbon Stores
• 4.7. Biodiversity Net Gain
• 4.8. Evaluating and Monitoring Biodiversity

4.1. Introduction

Local authorities in England are required to implement the Biodiversity Duty through a series of steps to conserve and enhance biodiversity. These steps include:

• First Consideration: Public authorities must complete their first consideration of actions to conserve and enhance biodiversity by 1 January 2024.
• Agreement of Policies and Objectives: Authorities must agree policies and specific objectives based on their consideration.
• Action Delivery: Authorities must act to deliver their policies and achieve their objectives.
• Reconsideration: Authorities must reconsider their actions at least every 5 years, with the option to do so more frequently.
• Nature Recovery Strategies: Authorities are expected to prepare and publish local nature recovery strategies, which will cover the whole of England.
• Monitoring and Reporting: Authorities must monitor their environmental performance and report progress towards biodiversity objectives.

Government guidance indicates that these steps are part of the broader effort to protect and enhance biodiversity in England, aligning with national biodiversity goals and targets; with the policies, objectives and the actions Oxford City Council take dependant on the council’s functions as a public authority.

For Oxford City Council, the First Consideration (Section 2.2) has been completed and indicates that biodiversity is already considered within Council functions of planning, green spaces and urban tree cover.

Biodiversity policies, objectives and actions have developed prior to the amendment of Section 40 of NERC (2006), the Biodiversity Duty. With the revision of Section 40 and the development of BNG (Section 2.12) and the LNRS (Section 3.6),  Oxford City Council biodiversity policies, objectives and actions should now be updated and where necessary expanded.

4.2. Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

A vehicle to carry out an update of Oxford City Council biodiversity policies, objectives and actions is a Biodiversity Strategy and associated Action Plan.

Government guidance on complying with the Biodiversity Duty identifies an existing or new strategy as a means of demonstrating compliance with the Biodiversity Duty.

Based on government guidance, the Oxford City Council Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan should be used to:

• Update internal policies, frameworks and processes to better conserve and enhance biodiversity
• Actions for managing council land to conserve and enhance biodiversity
• Actions for educating, advising and raising awareness of biodiversity

Development of the strategy will be informed by previous work (identified in Section 2), this Biodiversity Report (particularly Section 3) and an initial Regeneration, Economy & Sustainability Collaboration Day workshop (18/02/2026).

At the workshop, the biodiversity group emphasised habitat creation, connectivity, long term stewardship, and urban greening as core components of high value projects. It was concluded that monitoring should focus on measurable ecological enhancement and social value benefits. The group also indicated that potential funders value clarity, longevity, and demonstrable impact; conversely, projects with unclear maintenance, habitat loss risks, or poor feasibility are less attractive.  

An initial structure for the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan can be advised by Green Infrastructure Framework Principles and Standards for England (Section 3.7), modified as required to interlink with planning policy (including revised Ecology Conditions), council greenspaces/ land ownership and existing initiatives. There is likely to also be a requirement to seek biodiversity returns through existing and new partnerships, with the strategy providing a framework to achieve this.

Government guidance on complying with the Biodiversity Duty indicates that a wider review of council policies and strategies could also include:

• transport – support sustainable travel to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality
• waste – review waste management and recycling processes to reduce water pollution and air pollution from waste transport and landfill
• water – improve water efficiency to reduce the effect water abstraction can have on sensitive habitats and species
• procurement – buy sustainable materials and supplies to reduce the demand on natural resources
• light – make sure the design of artificial lighting minimises effects on nature
• human resources – promote and educate staff on biodiversity issues
• estate – improve the management of your land for biodiversity
• sustainability – make sure biodiversity forms a part of sustainability considerations

With guidance indicating that such reviews should be based on the Natural Capital Approach

At this stage, the policy review undertaken in this report (Sections 2 and 3), together with the workshop, identified the following topics for development by the strategy:

4.3. Avoiding Ecological Loss, Damage and Degradation

Future policy development and implementation should, through the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, discourage:

1. Habitat loss or damage (direct or indirect) particularly of LNRS Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity and locations having Potential to Become Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity; together with statutory and non-statutory wildlife sites.
2. Fragmentation of existing habitats 
3. Pollution risks that cause habitat/ ecosystem degradation
4. Introduction of invasive species 
5. Projects that lack of space or feasibility for habitat enhancement on small urban sites within Oxford[footnote8]
6. Projects that require funding but cannot guarantee long-term management[footnote9]

Prevention of ecological degradation should link to sustainable development and avoid highly prescriptive approaches that constrain innovation. To ensure enhancements do not result in degradation, complexity or uncertainty around funding sources (statutory vs voluntary) should be avoided. A key framework for avoiding a. to f. is via the implementation of the planning and nature recovery frameworks (Sections 2.4, 3.5, 3.8) in association with BNG (Section 2.11).

4.4. Promoting Biodiversity Enhancement

Future policy development and implementation should, through the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, encourage:

1. Restoration/ creation of habitats in accordance with the LNRS (Section 3.8)
2. Establishing or improving connectivity through:  
   • Wildlife/ green corridors along rivers, canals, roadsides, gardens, verges, hedgerows, etc. 
   • Stepping-stone habitats within urban areas (ponds, allotments, green roofs, wildflower areas). 
3. Enhancing the value of existing greenspace for biodiversity interlinked with the Green Space Strategy (Section 2.6) and greening of redundant and underused spaces. 
4. Linking biodiversity enhancement to Increasing tree cover—street trees, woodland blocks, riverside planting by interlinking with the Oxford Urban Forest Strategy (Section 2.7). 
5. Co-ordination and targeted use of BNG to meet habitat/ ecosystem  restoration, creation and enhancement objectives for the LNRS (Section 3.8) and Section 41 of NERC (Section 3.6) principal species and habitats of conservation importance within an Oxford context.

4.5. Delivering Co-benefits

As part of wider ecosystem service provision within Oxford, biodiversity enhancement can contribute to initiatives such as those related to climate change resilience/ mitigation, carbon storage and increasing social value. The Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan should link to and develop co-benefits from:

1. Reducing the urban heat island effect (i.e. via promotion of urban forestry and greener neighborhoods for community benefit)
2. Improved local amenity and wellbeing (i.e. through provision of biodiversity as part of recreation and cultural ecosystem services)
3. Securing and continuity of benefits to local communities
4. Increasing the quality and resilience of Oxford’s greenspaces
5. Incorporating biodiversity into flood prevention and resilience projects. 
6. Enhancing the ecological character and biodiversity value of the city (e.g., Oxford parks, cemeteries, verges, canals) 
7. Aligning with and complementing BNG requirements (see 4.4 e.)
8. Enabling non-statutory voluntary improvements to biodiversity[footnote10]
9. Ensuring biodiversity benefits are equitable, accessible, and integrated across neighbourhoods 

4.6. Co-Benefits: Natural Carbon Stores

During 2026, work will be undertaken to strengthen ZCOP’s links with the Local Nature Partnership (LNP) (see Section 2.9), due to synergies between carbon and nature, in both mitigating the effects of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions on the climate as well as adapting to the effects of the changing climate.

A specific project that is currently being scoped with the LNP and the County Council seeks opportunities for local organisations to plan to offset their eventual residual carbon emissions by investing in or co-developing nature-based interventions that would sequester carbon.

Linking Zero Carbon Projects to the Local Nature Recovery Partnership/ LNP would appear to also be a structure for incorporating habitat creation and enhancement, possibly through a LCOP initiative (see Section 2.9). This could possibly be linked to peat-based (e.g. fenland) and non-peat (scrub, grassland etc) carbon stores as part of the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.         

4.7. Biodiversity Net Gain

In the future, the Council intends to:

• Develop and maintain a dedicated database to support ongoing biodiversity gain monitoring.
• Provide further internal staff training to ensure consistent understanding and implementation of BNG requirements. Ensuring that training is delivered alongside any changes to legislation or guidance.
• Conduct site visits and review submitted monitoring reports to verify delivery and compliance.
• Support the emerging Local Plan by facilitating delivery of biodiversity units in line with the spatial hierarchy—prioritising delivery as close as possible to the impact site and, where this is not feasible, within Oxford City.
• Undertake an assessment of habitat demand and the requirements of the trading rules to help inform and support local habitat‑delivery businesses, enabling the creation of a robust local habitat portfolio
• Deliver a BNG Technical Advice Note
• Review the conclusions of the BNG feasibility study into potential habitat banking on Council landholdings to assess whether, in light of current legislation, policies, environmental and market conditions, there are any updates to the actions recommended on this subject.

4.8. Evaluating and Monitoring Biodiversity

It is a statutory undertaking for local authorities and other public bodies to report on how they are meeting the requirements of the Biodiversity Duty every 5 years. For this report, Oxford City Council has commenced by providing information on BNG progress (Section 5).

In future, the Council will consider which elements of the Biodiversity Duty guidance on monitoring should be utilised by the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and then reporting progress over the next 5 years. These include:

Achievements

1. actions the council has taken to conserve and enhance biodiversity

2. achievements as a result of these actions

3. actions the council plan to take in the next reporting period (see above)

How Council Policies Help Biodiversity

4. how many local sites within the Council local authority area have positive conservation management and information on its effectiveness

5. areas of land the Council own or manage that include habitats of principal importance.

How the Council Promotes Biodiversity on Land it Manages/ Owns

6. the way the Council recorded biodiversity on land it owns or manages

7. where existing conservation measures or biodiversity management plans are in place

8. where the Council put new conservation measures in place, or changed them, over the reporting period

9. that is also a local wildlife site or local nature reserve

Linking Council Managed/ Owned Land to the LNRS

10. ‘areas that are of particular importance for biodiversity’

11. ‘areas that could become of particular importance for biodiversity’

12. ‘areas where the recovery or enhancement of biodiversity could make a particular contribution to other environmental benefits’

13. areas where management practices have increased the importance of biodiversity

Trends

14. changes to the conservation status of habitats the Council manage or protect

15. changes to the ecological health of land the Council own or manage

16. adverse recordings of water or soil quality

17. increases or decreases in the number and type of species present

In addition, the Regeneration, Economy & Sustainability Collaboration Day workshop (18/02/2026) identified monitoring requirements/ methodologies for consideration in achieving 1 to 17 (above):

• Regular reporting on habitat condition and maintenance actions 
• Use of recognised tools (e.g., BNG Metric, habitat quality assessments) 
• Clear definitions of long-term maintenance responsibilities (e.g., 30‑year plans) 
• Evidence of community engagement or local participation 
• Photographic monitoring or GIS based mapping of new features 

The workshop then provided more detailed indicators, made links to BNG monitoring (see Section 5) and to support transparent consistent assessment (in line with 1 to 17 above):  

18. Environmental impact metrics 

• Area of habitat created (m²/hectares) 
• Number of trees planted or hedgerows established (subject to review and co-ordination with Oxford Urban Forest Strategy, see Section 2.7)
• BNG metric scores or habitat condition improvements 
• Number and length of wildlife corridors or greenspace connections created 

19. Carbon implications 

• Contribution to reducing urban heat island intensity 
• Carbon storage/ sequestration potential (grassland, scrub, trees, restored soils, wetlands)

20. Social value 

• Increased access to quality greenspace 
• Community involvement (volunteers, local groups) 
• Improvements in wellbeing indicators (qualitative or survey-based) 

Additionally, a key element for the future reporting period will need to establish monitoring and reporting on planning related:

• BNG Indicators
• Protected species licence recommendations/ conditions
• Natural England Consultation (Statutory Sites)
• NatureSpace District License (great crested newt)
• Section 41 (NERC) Habitat- Biodiversity Duty
• Section 41 (NERC) Species- Biodiversity Duty

Footnotes

8. Oxford does not have a Habitat Bank within the city boundary. The situation creates a potential chronic issue of long term biodiversity loss in connection with the BNG Hierarchy where onsite biodiversity gain cannot be achieved leading to the use of biodiversity units or purchase of biodiversity credits outside of the city boundary. Return to where footnote 8 is referenced ↩

9. The use of Landscape and Ecological Management Plans (LEMP), Habitat Management and Monitoring Plans (HMMP) and associated Biodiversity Gain Plans, long term provisions within Biodiversity Method Statements (BMS) and similar should demonstrate long term funding to match long term maintenance of enhancement. Return to where footnote 9 is referenced ↩

10. Provision of guidance and funding initiatives would assist in linking areas such as gardens, amenity or redundant locations to secure provision of connectivity (corridors and stepping stones). Return to where footnote 10 is referenced ↩