Biodiversity Duty Report
The Environment Act 2021 introduced a strengthened Biodiversity Duty which requires all public authorities in England to consider what action they can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity.
Government guidance on reporting Biodiversity duty actions (published in May 2023), confirms that Local Authorities must publish a Biodiversity Report setting out the policies and actions that have been developed and carried out to comply with the Biodiversity Duty.
The strengthened duty requires public authorities to:
- actively consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity when carrying out their functions
- set policies and objectives for how they will meet the duty
- publish a report explaining what actions they have taken and plan to take, and review this at least every five years
Our first Biodiversity Duty Report covers the period from 1 January 2024 to 1 January 2026 - the first full reporting period since the strengthened duty came into force.