Biodiversity and urban forest strategies

Open for comments until Tuesday 10 February 2026.

Cambridge City Council wants your views on our Biodiversity Strategy’s mid-period review and on a new Urban Forest Strategy.

Trees, habitats, wildlife and climate resilience are closely interconnected. Many of the most important challenges facing the city, including climate change, extreme heat, access to nature, development pressures and community stewardship, cut across both strategies and cannot be addressed in isolation.

By asking you about both at the same time, we aim to take a coordinated, efficient and joined-up approach, avoid duplication for residents and ensure that future policies for trees and biodiversity are aligned and mutually supportive.

Biodiversity Strategy

Our current Biodiversity Strategy (2022–2030) pledged to undertake a five-year review of actions and progress to ensure we continue to collaborate with partners and communities to protect, manage and enhance nature in the city.

The draft revised strategy proposes to retain the same vision and themes, and support for the existing Cambridge Nature Network.

It suggests alternative actions and projects to align with our new statutory Biodiversity Reporting Duty, the draft Urban Forest Strategy, and wider initiatives including the statutory Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), the BIG Chalk partnership and an ambition to collaborate to achieve future Nature City Accreditation. These more recent initiatives are described within the draft strategy.

The consultation is being held to seek views from residents, community groups, and other stakeholders.

Urban Forest Strategy

The Urban Forest Strategy sets out how trees across Cambridge will be managed, protected, planted and cared for over the next 10 years.

An internal consultation on the draft strategy has already taken place with council services and partners, and the feedback from that process has informed the version now being shared for public comment.

• Draft Urban Forest Strategy

This consultation invites residents, communities and stakeholders to help shape the future direction of tree management in the city, including ambitions for increasing canopy cover, climate resilience, mature tree protection, mitigating development pressures, fairness in access to trees, and opportunities for community involvement.

Have your say

Feedback from the consultation will inform the final Biodiversity Strategy and Urban Forest Strategy and associated action plans going to Cabinet for approval on Wednesday 25 March 2026.

Select the 'Take the survey' button to have your say.

A hard copy version of this survey can be downloaded here:

• Biodiversity and urban forest strategies

If you are completing a hard copy survey, please return it to our Customer Service Centre in person or via post at the following address:

Communications and Engagement Team, Customer Service Centre, Mandela House, 4 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1BY

The survey closes on Tuesday 10 February 2026. Any responses received after this date will not be considered.

If you are in need of any further assistance, please email us at communications@cambridge.gov.uk.