Nature and Biodiversity
Here you can find more information on the councils work to tackle the nature crisis.
On 16 April 2024, we made a Nature Recovery Declaration which acknowledges that we are facing a nature crisis.
Nature provides us with many vital support systems and co-benefits, with the nature crisis and the climate emergency intrinsically linked.
We developed a Plan for Nature in partnership with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, which sets out key actions for the Council to focus on to support the recovery of nature across the District. It includes an assessment of the baseline state of nature in the Staffordshire Moorlands and identifies key areas for the Council to focus their efforts on and to target for the creation, restoration and connection of habitats. The Plan was adopted on 3 October 2023. Work has since developed on writing County-wide Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), which the Council has contributed to.
In 2025, the Council developed a Climate Change and Nature Delivery Plan 2025 (PDF, 875 KB) that outlines priority areas and actions drawn from the Plan for Nature and Climate Change Action Plans and explains how these will be delivered.
The Council is working to ensure that nature and biodiversity are considered throughout its operations. This includes work on implementing our Green Spaces Strategy (PDF, 5 MB), and ensuring delivery of biodiversity net gain in planning provides the best outcomes for nature.
Plan for Nature Summary (PDF, 1 MB)
Nature Recovery Declaration (PDF, 6 MB)
Staffordshire Moorlands Plan for Nature Sept 2023 (PDF, 4 MB)
Appendices Staffordshire Moorlands Plan for Nature (PDF, 749 KB)
We are also working closely with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust towards common goals such as the Nature in your Neighbourhood project and our Plan for Nature.
Nature in Your Neighbourhood is a five-year innovative community-led project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. Its focus is to support communities in the Staffordshire Moorlands to improve green spaces where they live and monitor habitat health. The project is led by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and project partners include Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, Moorlands Climate Action, Keele University, OUTSIDE and Staffordshire Council Voluntary Youth Services (SCVYS). The project will run from 2024 - 2029.
Local authorities in England are legally required under the Environment Act 2021 to publish a biodiversity report at least every 5 years. The first reporting period ended on 1 January 2026, with the biodiversity report required to be published within 12 weeks of this. The Council's biodiversity report was approved at Cabinet on 10th February 2026 - you can find the details here. Now that the detailed biodiversity report has been published, it is the Council's intention to follow up with a public-facing summary document later in 2026.
Find out more about the work we are doing in our parks and green spaces to improve biodiversity, including changes to mowing regimes:
