The 30by30 Land Delivery Plan

In December 2022, the UK Government signed up to Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (“the Framework”) following the conclusion of “Biodiversity COP15” held in Montreal. Members at COP15 recognised that urgent action was required to “halt and reverse biodiversity loss to put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of people and planet by conserving and sustainably using biodiversity, and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources, while providing the necessary means of implementation”. The vision of the Framework is a world living in harmony with nature where: “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people”.

The headline target arising out of the Framework is a commitment by the countries that signed the Framework to protect at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030 – 30% is considered the minimum area needed to truly halt and reverse the global decline in nature.

On 13 July 2026, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) set out how the Government intends to meet the UK’s commitment to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030 (“30by30”) by publishing the 30by30 Land Delivery Plan (“the LDP”).

What is the LDP and how does it work?

In the Government’s own words, the “…delivery plan sets out how we intend to support more landowners and land managers to make progress towards 30by30…”. The focus of the LDP is on land. This is because over 40% of English waters are already designated as Marine Protected Areas (“MPAs”) and it is through MPAs that the 30by30 ambition will be met in regard to the sea.

The LDP introduces an assessment process of land in England that is already being managed for nature for the long term. The aim is to identify land that can meet the internationally agreed criteria, or that may do so with further action. In effect, this is an inventory, a land census.

A three tiered voluntary system is to be installed:

Landowners may submit their land for assessment. The assessment process categorises land into three tiers as against the 30by30 criteria:

• Gold tier land fully meets the criteria for 30by30 and can already be counted towards England’s 30by30 commitment
• Silver tier land may become gold tier in the future with further action – the 30by30 pipeline
• Bronze tier land has a recognised benefit for nature, may become silver tier land but does not have the potential to become gold tier

In order to qualify as gold tier, the land must satisfy three elements:

1. Purpose – land should be managed for the explicit purpose of nature restoration
2. Protection – there should be protection in place to ensure the management of the area for conservation for at least 20 years
3. Management – management for conservation and monitoring should already be in place

Presently, it is estimated that approximately 7% of land in England would fall into gold tier; and 9% would fall into silver tier. 6.4% of gold tier land is land which is designated as SSSI, with public woodland and National Nature Reserves making up the remainder.

What are the benefits for private landowners of volunteering land?

The Government clearly recognises that to meet the 30by30 objective, private land is required, but in a blow to the Government’s ambitions, the Church of England – one of the biggest landowners in the UK – a few weeks ago voted not to protect and restore nature across 30% of its land. The Church Commissioners argued that to do so would breach the Church’s fiduciaries duties. The Church’s Lead Bishop for the Environment, along with other Bishops, worked together to pass an amendment which set out alternative aims.

The LDP does not come with ring fenced budget or any budget whatsoever. Rather, the Government, “will continue to work across Defra group to explore how existing and emerging funding streams can be aligned and optimised to contribute to 30by30”. Additionally, the Government recognises that, “We need to unlock private, philanthropic and commercial investment to deliver at the pace and scale required, and to ensure that public money is targeted for maximum impact”. The public money in question is money already allocated to existing and future nature recovery schemes such as Environmental Land Management, the Nature Restoration Fund and BNG.

The benefit, therefore, seems to be greater access to knowledge and partnerships with organisations such as Natural England, Wildlife Trusts, Rivers Trusts, National Parks, and National Landscapes (formerly AONBs).

Conclusion:

Environmental groups have largely been critical of the LDP.

The Office for Environmental Protection observes:

“There are elements of the plan that are welcome. It recognises the need to accelerate action and identifies a substantial pool of land that either already contributes to, or has the potential to contribute to, the target. It then offers a more coherent approach to making sure land is eligible to be counted.”

“However, we remain concerned that the actions government sets out do not amount to change at the scale and pace needed. While this plan contains a range of positive actions and enabling measures, we would like to see more from government to show that the actions do actually stack up to mean the target will be met.”

The Wildlife Trust described the LDP as offering, “little more than a new way of counting recycled ambitions”. The Chief Executive of the RSPB described it as, “hugely disappointing” and a “crushing blow”.

Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England, however, describes the LDP as, “a turning point for nature recovery in England”, saying it moves the country “from ambition to real, tangible progress” and provides a framework for organisations to work together towards protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030.

The success or failure of the LDP will depend on private landowners willing to volunteer their land for assessment. It is unclear how much enthusiasm there is from private landowners, but four years is not very long to turn straw into gold (tier land).

If you have any questions about the topics raised in this article, our expert Planning lawyers would be happy to help, get in touch.