Part 6: Nature and Biodiversity Section 104: Local nature recovery strategies for England
This section provides for the creation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) in England, for how the geographical coverage of each LNRS will be determined, and for the relationship between LNRSs and the biodiversity duty under the NERC Act.
	Subsections (1) and (2) set out that the requirement for LNRSs applies to England and that, taken together, all areas of England will be covered by an LNRS.
	Subsection (3) sets out that the area covered by each LNRS will be determined by the Secretary of State. This approach allows flexibility to make sure that the area covered by each LNRS balances the potentially competing needs to be ecologically meaningful (that is, based on the common geographic, geological, topographical or other physical features that help define the ecology of an area, and of sufficient scale to include a range of habitats and land uses) and align with existing administrative boundaries. It will also allow alignment of boundaries between neighbouring LNRS areas to avoid gaps or overlap. It is anticipated that the area covered by each LNRS will be approximately county-scale, but with the potential to vary to best accommodate differing local circumstances.
	Establishment of the area covered by an LNRS is closely linked to agreement on the identity of the responsible authority, which will lead on the production of the LNRS. The process for doing this is set out in section 105.
	Subsection (4) states that the area of a local authority, other than a county council, may not be split between different LNRSs. This requirement reflects the importance of local authorities in producing and implementing the LNRS, and is intended to make it easier for individual local authorities to do so by making each LNRS area an aggregate of local authority areas. This requirement will also facilitate the agreement of individual LNRS boundaries, and make sure they operate at scales most relevant to local authorities.
	The bodies included within the definition of "local authority" are listed in section 108(2). County councils are exempted from the general prohibition in splitting local authorities between LNRSs because of their larger size, and the potential that not doing so would result in a de facto requirement that LNRSs conform to county boundaries, irrespective of ecological or other practical considerations. Whilst in many cases there may be good reason for LNRS and county council boundaries to align, it is reasonable to anticipate situations where this would not be the case.
	Subsection (5) highlights the relationship between LNRSs and the duty to conserve biodiversity under section 40 of the NERC Act. The existing duty is modified by this section to require that all public authorities must have regard to any relevant LNRS in the proper exercise of their functions.