Priority Programmes

An invitation from WENP partners

The West of England Nature Partnership is an active, ambitious and diverse coalition of non-government organisations (NGOs), local authorities and many other partners from across sectors, working together to support nature’s recovery across the West of England.

Our vision is of a thriving natural environment that underpins a healthy and resilient society and economy - vibrant, re-connected landscapes where nature and people can thrive side by side. 

We are looking for partners, funders and investors to help us build on our successes to date and accelerate nature’s recovery across the region – to deliver action now for the benefit of current and future generations.  

We can all play our part - and we can all reap the benefits. We invite you to join us in bringing nature back across the West of England.

Strategic programmes for nature recovery

As private investors and businesses increasingly seek to make nature-positive impacts, our nine nature recovery programmes are well-positioned to deliver significant environmental, economic and social outcomes. They offer multiple entry points for those seeking to invest in high-integrity, measurable and nature-based solutions.

Our programmes focus resources where we believe we can achieve the most impact - and at the pace and scale required to meet the challenge of bringing nature back at a landscape scale across the West of England.  

Each programme is informed by the West of England’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy - launched in November 2024 and the first of its kind to be published in England. They also align with other regional and nation-wide strategies to deliver the many co-benefits of nature recovery. These include the WENP Nature and Health Strategy, the West of England Joint Green Infrastructure Strategy, the Bristol Avon Catchment Plan and the Forest of Avon Plan. 

We have also launched our easy to use Local Nature Recovery Toolkit for individuals, communities and businesses. This guides people to where they can have the most impact for nature and what actions they can take today to bring our programmes alive.

Some of our programmes are seeking funding and investment for their development, while others are already up and running but need further investment to take already successful work to the next level. Read more about how we are building investment-ready programmes.

We aim to have delivered a significant proportion of our programmes by 2030, but with a longer-term plan up to 2050.  Special attention is given to good governance in project delivery and effective monitoring and evaluation (see State of Nature Monitoring). 

Our previous work with our many partners over many years has allowed us to design an approach and delivery programme that has broad support across the region.

Join us to invest in a bright future for people, nature and climate across the West of England

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Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of nature's goods and services with its capacity to supply them

^{Professor Partha Dasgupta - The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review,
HM Treasury, 2021.}