Biodiversity Duty

In 2019, the City of Doncaster Council made a climate change and biodiversity emergency declaration.

We are committed to the protection and enhancement of our natural environment, as shown in the current Environment & Sustainability Strategy 2020 - 2030 – Team Doncaster.

In 2021, the Government’s Environment Act strengthened the legal Biodiversity Duty, which requires all public authorities to consider what action they can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity. The actions that public authorities take for biodiversity will contribute to the achievement of national goals and targets for nature recovery. These are set out in the governments Environmental Improvement Plan (2023).

As part of the Biodiversity Duty, the Environment Act requires the Council to:

• Consider what actions it can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity, with the First Consideration required by January 2024.  
• Agree policies and specific objectives based on its consideration.
• Act to deliver its policies and achieve its objectives.

The Council’s First Consideration of the Biodiversity Duty was approved in January 2024 and the report is now available:

Biodiversity Duty - CDC first consideration

Download (450KB - PDF)

The report sets out some of the ways in which the Council already considers the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity in delivering its services, and also explores some of the future actions it could consider taking.

The Council is now considering whether further policies, objectives and actions should be agreed, and if so, we will work to deliver them. The key nature recovery priorities for our local area are currently under development, and will be set out in the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Our Biodiversity Duty is to have regard to this vital strategy. More information on the South Yorkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy can be found on the SYMCA website.

Our progress in considering and responding to the Biodiversity Duty will next be reported in January 2026, and we will continue to review our duty in order to make a positive contribution to nature’s recovery.

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