In our latest blog post, Sam Thomsen from our Nature Conservation Policy and Advice Team summarises the messages from JNCC's response to the recently held consultation on the Government's Land Use Framework for England.
With growing pressure on land – from housing to food to nature – it is vital we strike a balance across the many services land delivers. The Government’s recent consultation on a Land Use Framework (LUF) for England marks a pivotal moment to rethink how we manage this finite resource. JNCC has responded, calling for a bold, integrated approach to land use that reflects the full range of benefits land provides.
Key messages from JNCC’s Response:
- A cultural shift is essential: Our perception of land must expand to recognise land as a provider of multiple societal benefits; from biodiversity and carbon storage to recreation and resilience, to better support production and development.
- Multifunctionality must be central: Decisions about land use should consider the full suite of ecosystem services, balancing trade-offs and identifying synergies to deliver more with less. For example, depending where you modify a river section, it may create new habitats for wildlife, reduce the local flood risk and restore peatland enhancing carbon sequestration.
- Food security is broader than production: JNCC is working to create a more holistic view of food security, one that includes consumption patterns, supply chain resilience, and environmental impacts of imports.
- Evidence alone isn’t enough: Change requires initiatives that combine robust natural science with social (particularly behavioural) science to shift mindsets and break down silos. Only through meaningful cross-sector collaboration and engagement that unites people and ideas, can we achieve tangible changes.
- Indicators and early warning signals across the ecosystem and economy are vital: To track impacts of changes and progress towards targets, and adapt in real time, we need responsive, spatially relevant indicators that feed back into policy and drive effective decision-making.
- Governance must be cross-cutting: Delivering the LUF’s ambitions will require strong, coordinated governance across government departments and sectors to provide certainty for a variety of stakeholders, including land managers and investors. This governance must be on a widespread scale and seamlessly integrated, from policy design through to implementation.
- Spatial prioritisation is key: JNCC’s work on Spatial Prioritisation shows how data-driven approaches can help identify where interventions will deliver the greater benefits, supporting smarter, more targeted land-use decisions. To learn more, please see JNCC’s Spatial Prioritisation project.
Why this matters
Defra is proposing that, by pulling together England’s wealth of spatial data for the Land Use Framework's required digital tools and technology, we can build a more resilient and prosperous future. Taking this even further, JNCC believes that central to this is the adoption of a multifunctional and behaviourally informed approach. We can meet these challenges head on, including the UK’s commitments to the Global Biodiversity Framework.
You can find out more in JNCC’s full consultation response.
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