Defending Nature

What is it?

Defending Nature is a county-wide programme focused on protecting Cheshire’s most important wildlife-rich habitats from ongoing threats including development pressure, infrastructure expansion and unsustainable land management practices.

Across Cheshire, many ecologically important sites, including Local Wildlife Sites, continue to face habitat fragmentation, degradation and incremental loss. Once damaged or destroyed, these habitats are often extremely difficult and costly to restore.

The programme takes a proactive and evidence-led approach to safeguarding nature through planning engagement, advocacy, habitat protection and long-term stewardship mechanisms. Cheshire Wildlife Trust will work with developers, planners, regulators, landowners and communities to improve environmental outcomes and strengthen legal and practical protections for wildlife-rich landscapes.

The project also supports long-term habitat protection through Local Wildlife Site designation, conservation covenants, neighbourhood planning and management agreements.

Why is this needed? / Why are we doing this?

Nature recovery depends not only on creating new habitats, but also on protecting the ecological assets that already exist.

Many wildlife-rich sites across Cheshire remain vulnerable to development pressure, infrastructure delivery and land-use change. Small incremental losses continue to weaken ecological networks and reduce long-term biodiversity resilience.

This programme has been developed to strengthen habitat protection, improve environmental accountability and ensure that nature-positive principles are embedded within planning and development decisions across Cheshire.
The project also recognises the critical role communities play in advocating for wildlife and influencing environmental outcomes.

What is it going to deliver?

By 2030, the project will deliver:

• Stronger protection for Local Wildlife Sites and priority habitats
• Increased long-term legal and management protections
• Conservation covenants and management agreements
• Nature-positive outcomes from development and infrastructure projects
• Faster and more coordinated responses to threats to wildlife
• Monitoring and enforcement support to ensure environmental commitments are delivered
• Community mobilisation and advocacy campaigns
• Greater public participation in protecting wildlife-rich habitats
• Improved ecological resilience across Cheshire

The programme aims to ensure that wildlife-rich habitats are protected for the long term, with communities actively involved in safeguarding nature and holding decision-makers accountable.