Nature and Biodiversity
Here you can find more information on the councils work to tackle the nature crisis.
On 18 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 Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, which sets out key actions for the Council to focus on to support the recovery of nature across the Borough. It includes an assessment of the baseline state of nature in the High Peak 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 5 December 2024. 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 Parks Strategy, 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)
High Peak Plan for Nature 2024
We are also working closely with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust towards common goals such as their Wild Peak initiative and our Plan for Nature.
Find out more about the work we are doing in our parks and green spaces to improve biodiversity, including changes to mowing regimes:
Enhancing Biodiversity in our parks
Enhancing Biodiversity in our parks
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 the Executive on 12th 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.
