Stakeholder Engagement Best Practice | Nattergal’s Ten-Point Approach
Fig 1: Stakeholders visit Harold's Park Wildland
This month sees the publication of The Nattergal Report on Stakeholder Engagement Best Practice for Landscape-scale Nature Recovery Projects. Developed for the Boothby Wildland Landscape Recovery project, and funded via the DEFRA Landscape Recovery Development Phase, the report was led by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) at the University of Gloucestershire and the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery and Agile Initiative projects at Oxford University, with the objective of establishing a framework for enhancing and embedding stakeholder engagement into nature restoration.
“Effective stakeholder engagement is key to improved land-use decision-making, natural resource management, and achieving mutually beneficial outcomes for individuals, communities, and places.”
Our intention is that not only will we apply the principles across the Nattergal portfolio, but, in line with our core value of collaboration, we can help other organisations engaged in nature recovery to deliver enhanced benefits for their stakeholders. The report sets out ten evidence-led recommendations for improving stakeholder engagement in nature recovery projects. Below are working examples of how we are implementing these recommendations at Nattergal - and collaborating on community benefit best practices across the UK Natural Capital market.
Nattergal’s Ten-Point Approach
1.Treat engagement as an ongoing process, not a ‘one-off’, ‘add-on’, or ‘tick-box’ activity.
At Nattergal we aim to manage our sites for nature in perpetuity, and as such, we need to maintain positive stakeholder engagement for decades, and across generations.
Creating programmes that work for immediate needs, whilst laying the foundations for long term engagement is key to the success of each project. We recognise that programmes need to be flexible, adaptive and continually evolving through the lifetime of a project. Accordingly, regular reviews are being built into our plans to ensure these needs are met.
2.Prioritise understanding of the local context, purpose, and rationale for engagement.
A clear early priority for any nature recovery project is identifying the individuals, groups and organisations through a stakeholder mapping exercise. These include both ‘communities of place’, i.e. the groups and individuals in our local geographical area, as well as ‘communities of interest’, being stakeholders with an interest in the project but not living in close proximity. At Boothby Wildland this was a critical part of an independent stakeholder analysis we commissioned Louise Arkles to conduct as part of her MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge. Louise spent three months embedded within the Boothby team during the summer of 2023, attending community events, engaging face-to-face with local people, and undertaking surveys and interviews.
Key outputs included a summary of census data, an initial map of actual and potential stakeholders as illustrated below, a living spreadsheet of engaged stakeholders, and an Impact-Influence Matrix of all stakeholders. These formed the basis of early engagement planning at Boothby Wildland.
Figure 2: An early stakeholder mapping exercise undertaken by Louise Arkles, which has since evolved and grown
3.Engage stakeholders in dialogue as early as possible in decision-making processes.
A key nature recovery objective at Boothby Wildland is the restoration of the West Glen River, with the aim of reconnecting to its floodplain, creating wetland habitats, and alleviating downstream flooding. After expert consultation, baseline monitoring and modelling of different restoration options, we identified that drainage removal and the enclosed release of beavers would be key to success. Given the potential controversy around beaver reintroductions, it was incumbent on us to engage with stakeholders before taking any action.
The Nattergal team at Boothby Wildland held three consultation sessions attended by over 80 local stakeholders to present proposals, answer questions and log all feedback for consideration. The sessions were promoted extensively across social media, through local posters and by emailing our established contact database. They included an in-person meeting at the local Village Hall, a live online session and a walk & talk at the Wildland. Feedback questionnaires were distributed at each event, whilst a letter box drop for local villagers and online copies were also made available. We reviewed the outcomes, considered the feedback and have committed to ongoing follow-up conversations. A report of this consultation, which received overwhelmingly positive support, was included in the application to Natural England for an enclosed beaver release.
Figure 3: Our Boothby Ranger Lloyd Park presenting at the consultation – February 2024
4.Integrate local knowledge alongside scientific expertise for robust decision-making.
A critical element of our approach has been the creation of two co-design groups at Boothby Wildland, combining a diverse range of stakeholders with both scientific and local knowledge.
Specialist Advisory Group: This group is formed of representatives from specialists local NGOs, Consultants, Academics and Public Bodies and provide specialist advice to Boothby on the policy, technical and logistical aspects of our plans. Sub-groups will be formed for specific initiatives such as river restoration as and when needed.
Local Stakeholder Group: The Boothby community group is made up of a broader set of people (including our direct neighbours) and organisations, where we make every endeavour to ensure this is representative of the local context. ‘Sprint’ subgroups may also be formed to focus on specific, time sensitive issues as and when they occur.
Figure 4: Stakeholder co-design workshop at Boothby Wildland - September 2023
5. Understand and manage power dynamics effectively, building trust and encouraging two-way dialogue
We have been working hard to foster relationships with our local community including surrounding farmers and landowners, as well as extensive collaborations with NGOs, academic institutions, research partners and commercial organisations locally, nationally and internationally. Our activities- including hosting regular walks with interested parties, through to weekly volunteering days - enable us to meet face to face to discuss the project directly with people and any concerns that arise. We also offer a site email address that is regularly contacted with questions for the team.
It is important to try and understand where different groups are coming from, and that many will have conflicting ideas and concerns. There are louder voices (both positive and negative), that it’s easy to engage with, but there is a wide range of other, less vocal stakeholders that we feel should have a chance to feed in. Our aim as we grow is that additional capacity in the team will help us reach out to those groups, who may need different areas of support to help them become more involved in the project.
We believe that undertaking this level of engagement provides value for all involved. From opportunities to learn and volunteer, to being involved in site development, we hope to create a sense of community, pride and agency in the Boothby Wildland project
Fig 5: Volunteers spreading green hay at Boothby Wildland
6. Recognise there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to engagement
As part of our planning process, we mapped out a Spheres of Influence Matrix to understand the level of engagement needed by each stakeholder type. In the Spectrum of Engagement model (below), we then identified examples of engagement methods that could be applied across each level, as appropriate to the people and the situation. We have implemented many of the engagement methods including newsletters, social media engagement, open days, guided tours, public meetings, establishing a local community group, consultations, our interactive Boothby WildMap and volunteering opportunities.
Figure 6: Boothby Wildland’s Spectrum of Engagement
7. Prioritise monitoring and evaluation of social impact to inform future practice.
It is recognised that whilst imperative, monitoring and evaluating stakeholder engagement can be challenging for a variety of reasons. For example, having robust, repeatable methodologies for monitoring and the capacity to carry these out, is a goal we continue to work on.
We track social outcomes such as employment from the project, site visits, uptake of volunteering and student research. Evaluating the quality of our social impact and using qualitative methodologies is more challenging with a small team. Nonetheless, we review activities such as volunteering annually with questionnaires and feedback forms and have used printed and online feedback forms for our consultation process.
We remain open to conversation with all our stakeholders and try to actively encourage feedback of all types – for example, starting community workshops at Boothby Wildland with a SWOT analysis exercise to capture thoughts on the project’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. These identified factors are then regularly monitored and evaluated to ensure stakeholder engagement outcomes are realised, whilst also identifying risks and issues as they arise.
8. Act Local, to ensure ambition is rooted in the local community.
One of Nattergal’s core values is ‘Act Local’. This begins by working with local stakeholders to ensure that each of our Wildlands is embedded in the respective local community. Employing people from the surrounding area was a first step towards this at Boothby Wildland, and the team adopted a spirit of co-design to help form plans for the site.
In September 2023, we held a series of community workshops at Boothby, attended by over 50 local representatives. Small groups were asked to visualise desired outcomes from Boothby Wildland in the form of the front cover of a local newspaper in 2073. We were heartened to see such creativity and ambition from our local community and the exercise helped to kick-start our work on a collaborative footing.
Since then, we have developed an interactive WildMap to keep our growing list of stakeholders updated on our progress and shared vision as it develops. Navigating each square of the map you can interact with a wealth of content, from scientific research findings and camera trap footage to future vision illustrations. This way we can apply cutting-edge science and global best-practice to a plan conceived and developed locally. The WildMap also presents an opportunity to share community projects, for example the work submitted by supporters in our recent 2024 ‘Summer of Art’.
Figure 7: Boothby Interactive WildMap - Summer of Art
9. Develop organisational capacity for engagement through training, resources, and human capital.
Our local team at Boothby includes Communities Co-ordinator Lizzie, Ranger Lloyd, and Boothby Manager Lorienne. Together with support from the wider Nattergal team, they work incredibly hard to deliver all elements of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan.
Through the FIRNS (Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland) Community Benefits Standard for Nature projects, we will be undertaking training workshops with the team in Q1 2025, reviewing what is working at Boothby and what could be improved, as well as feeding into the standard development. Our aim is to be the first English project to obtain the new Community Benefits Certification Mark when this is released.
As one of 22 first-round Landscape Recovery pilot projects, part of the broader Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, we have been encouraged and supported to develop our Stakeholder Engagement and Site Access Plans for Boothby Wildland. This support has been critical to delivering the research and resources associated with this work. We are now in the process of negotiating longer-term ELMs support which will enable us realise our ongoing ambition. These plans include expanding the Boothby team with at least 3 additional positions, which would provide increased capacity for continued and more in-depth stakeholder engagement.
10. Frameworks for best practice engagement should be institutionalised – embedding accountability and inclusivity at the centre of nature recovery efforts
We are working to foster an environment where equality, diversity and inclusion are embedded. We acknowledge that we must better match the demographics of our engaged stakeholders to the broader demographics of the local area. For example, we will look to identify and proactively approach ‘hard to reach’ and/or under-represented individuals of our community. We have also applied for funding to secure the infrastructure needed to host local schools and youth groups. If successful, this includes an Education Officer, group shelter, restrooms and an accessible path into the Wildland.
The figure below, taken from the report, shows the cyclic nature of Stakeholder Engagement. By embedding this process, we aim to consider engagement in everything we do across all Nattergal projects.
Figure 8: The Stakeholder Engagement Cycle - from the Best Practice Report
Nattergal is also a partner in the Nature Finance Certification Alliance (NFCA) ‘Community Benefits Standard for Nature Projects’. Funded by the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS), Nattergal is the only English partner in the project, which is aiming to “establish a consensus on community benefits best practice across the UK Nature Investment market.” In turn, this is feeding into the British Standards Institute (BSI) Nature Investment Standards, so lessons learnt at Boothby Wildland will have international impact.
Conclusion
By grounding decisions in best practice evidence, organisations like Nattergal can create effective strategies that maximise beneficial outcomes and manage risk, build trust and legitimacy, and promote a culture of continuous improvement.
Our work is ongoing, but we have made great progress and remain fully committed to delivering ever-better engagement across all key stakeholder groups as their needs evolve.
You can download the full report and the Executive summary in our research section.
References
*Davis, J., Hafferty, C., Ingram, J., & Short, C. (2023). The Nattergal Report on Engagement Best Practice for Landscape-scale Nature Recovery Projects. Carried out by the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire, UK.
For further information:
Lorienne Whittle | Boothby Wildland Manager | lorienne.whittle@nattergal.co.uk
Ben Hart | Nattergal Head of Operations | ben.hart@nattergal.co.uk
Dr. Caitlin Hafferty | Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Social Science Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery (LCNR) | caitlin.hafferty@ouce.ox.ac.uk
Josh Davis | Environmental Sciences PhD Student at the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), University of Gloucestershire | joshuadavis@connect.glos.ac.uk