Strategy Area Description

This document describes the South of Tyne and Wear Local Nature Recovery Strategy Area, which encompasses the local authority areas of Gateshead, South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland.

The description forms an integral part of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, providing an overview of the physical, geographical and ecological complexion of the area.  In accordance with paragraph 36 of The Environment (Local Nature Recovery Strategy) Regulations 2023, the Strategy Area description is formulated so as to inform the setting of priorities for the recovery, or enhancement of biodiversity, across the Strategy's geographical remit, helping to highlight where the opportunities for nature recovery may lie.

Accordingly, the description includes a consideration of:

• the range and distribution of habitats across the Strategy Area, with an emphasis on priority habitats, giving examples of these, including those that support scarce or declining species
• habitat distribution and extent, and a recognition that some of these habitats may have been lost or reduced in quality over recent decades
• species, and species groups, for which the Strategy Area is of national and/or regional importance
• how future pressures, such as the changes consequent to climate change might affect the scale of species' populations, the distribution of some species and the quality of the Strategy Area's different habitats

As well as habitat and biodiversity detail, the Area Description contains information about the area's:

• history
• geology
• topography
• rivers
• soils
• agriculture
• human geography
• population and settlement patterns
• industrial heritage and legacy