Issue details

The Council’s current Biodiversity Strategy (2022 – 2030) pledged to undertake a 5-year review of actions and progress to ensure the Council continues to collaborate to protect, manage and enhance nature in the city.

Following December 2025 Cabinet Approval a joint public consultation on the draft Biodiversity Strategy mid-term review and a draft new Urban Forest Strategy was run on the City Council Go Vocal consultation portal from 7th January to 10th February, with a further one-week extension for emailed responses, as requested by specific groups.

The revised Strategy reflects feedback and views from the consultation, retaining similar supported updated vision, themes and objectives, and additional actions and projects to align with our new statutory Biodiversity Reporting Duty, the new Urban Forest Strategy (UFS), and wider initiatives including the statutory Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), the BIG Chalk partnership and an ambition to collaborate with our communities to achieve future Nature City Accreditation. These more recent initiatives are described within the strategy.

The strategy action plan includes the proposed designation of two new Local Nature Reserves (LNRs), both within Cherry Hinton. These have been supported through the consultation, and if approved the Council would seek formal declaration though the statutory Natural England process in 2026.