Protected Sites Strategies Pilots – Evaluation of Process and Impact

Tender description

1.1 The Environment Act, Clause 110 bestows a Protected Sites Strategies power with Natural England. The purpose of the Protected Sites Strategies is defined in 10 (1) as: Natural England may prepare and publish a strategy for— (a) improving the conservation and management of a protected site, and (b) managing the impact of plans, projects or other activities (wherever undertaken) on the conservation and management of the protected site. Natural England’s Resilient Landscapes and Seas Board endorsed a Board paper in June 2021 which described how Natural England will pilot the deployment of Protected Sites Strategies as follows: Natural England will consider deployment of this new PSS mechanism where local evidence highlights that a site is being impacted by a range of offsite issues and that it is felt collaborative stakeholder support would effectively tackle those issues and drive positive solutions. Five Protected Sites Strategy pilots are currently being selected to test the full potential for the Protected Sites Strategies mechanism to enable collaborative stakeholder support that effectively tackles issues and drives positive solution. This project will construct five Theories of Change using a realist process, impact and economic evaluation, one for each of the five local Protected Sites Strategy pilots. The second phase of the project will involve the construction of five evaluation frameworks, one for each of the pilots. The findings of the evaluation frameworks will help inform how each of the pilots can best be further progressed and help formulate the statutory guidance for Protected Sites Strategies. The insights from the Evaluation will enable roll out of the Protected Sites Strategies mechanisms to address a wide range of offsite issues where collaborative stakeholder support is required to achieve solutions that establish long-term resilience through collaborative commitments