Call for evidence: Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) project on barriers to nature recovery

A call for evidence opened on Monday 19 October and runs until Monday 14 December. They are seeking specific examples of actual or potential blockers that prevent, delay or discourage the on-the-ground delivery of nature restoration, conservation and management across land, freshwater and coastal areas in England. They also welcome examples of approaches that have helped to overcome these barriers.

The blockers may relate to law, regulation, consenting, policy or guidance, including how requirements are interpreted and applied in practice. They would particularly like to hear from people with direct experience of encountering these issues while delivering nature improvements on the ground.

The wider project will analyse and test the evidence, explore how the most significant blockers interact and identify practical opportunities to address them. The findings will inform future reporting, advice and engagement with government and regulators, including our scrutiny of the Environmental Improvement Plan and progress towards environmental targets.

CIAT will be looking to prepare a centralised response to this consultation, bringing together a range of experiences from individuals working across the built environment sector. If you would like to contribute to this response, please send your specific experiences to [email protected] by Friday 1 December.Please include the context for the work, what you were seeking to achieve, and what the barrier was. We anticipate most blockers can be captured in around a paragraph of text. More information on what OEP is looking for, including specific examples, can be found in this briefing document.

You can also respond directly to the OEP, by completing and returning this form.