|
|
Local
Biodiversity Action Plans can only be a success
if they are prepared and implemented by a partnership.
This ensures that all organisations, authorities
and individuals that have the ability to influence
biodiversity locally are involved in the process.
|
The
London Biodiversity Partnership
The partnership
approach enables Biodiversity Action Plans to provide the
biodiversity element of Local Agenda 21, another important
theme from the Earth Summit.
The London
Biodiversity Partnership was launched in 1996 with the publication
of a framework document Capital Assets: Conserving Biodiversity
in London. Terms of Reference defining the overall purpose
of the Partnership have been agreed and a variety of public,
private and voluntary sector bodies make up membership of
the core Partnership. A Project Officer has been appointed
through funding from the Bridge House Estates Trust.
Organisations
and individuals will be able to sign London’s ‘Biodiversity
Charter’ as a declaration of support for the aims and
objectives of the Partnership, which will be widened during
the action planning process.
Through their
own initiatives, some members of the London Biodiversity
Partnership have already begun to contribute towards action
for biodiversity. For example, English Nature is looking
at ways of using grazing to improve the management of wildlife
sites in the capital. London Underground has completed an
ecological survey of its railway linesides and Thames Water
is assessing the nature conservation resource on its land
holding as part of its Biodiversity Action Plan. In addition,
The London Wildlife Trust published Biodiversity Action
Plans: Getting Involved at the Local Level on behalf
of the Partnership, which provides guidelines for local
community and local authority involvement in the action
planning process.
Many individual
London boroughs have formed local partnerships to further
local action. These borough partnerships are particularly
important as they will help to identify how specific habitat
and species action plans can be implemented on the ground
and can also ensure that local aspirations and priorities
are an integral part of the wider process.
The
London Biodiversity Partnership · Terms of Reference
- To establish
an effective, committed and participatory partnership
to conserve and enhance biodiversity in London
- To identify
broad aims and objectives to ensure biodiversity conservation
in London
- To ensure
that national targets for species and habitats specified
in the UK Action Plan are translated into effective action
at the London level
- To identify
the information required to effectively conserve London’s
wildlife and act to remedy deficiencies
- To develop
targets and costed action plans for the conservation of
habitats and species that are of international, national,
regional or local importance, or are of special value
to people living and working in London. The special circumstances
that arise from London’s urban character should be
acknowledged
- To promote
access to and enjoyment of wildlife in London
- To resolve
conflicts between nature conservation and other interests
- To promote
public awareness and interest in the wildlife of London,
raise the profile of nature conservation and encourage
people’s involvement and personal commitment to the
implementation of action plans
- To produce
guidance to boroughs and other key organisations on the
implementation of habitat and species action plans
- To publish
the London Biodiversity Action Plan and so establish priorities
and action plans, incorporating a mechanism for monitoring
and review.
London has
long been a pioneering arena for urban nature conservation.
For many years, voluntary and statutory nature conservation
and environmental organisations, locally-based groups and
individuals have argued successfully for the capital’s
wildlife. This has largely been achieved through the management
of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation and other
open spaces. Protected areas such as nature reserves have
been established, often in partnership with local authorities
and private landowners, to safeguard wildlife and provide
valuable areas for recreation, education and amenity.
The new agenda
is an attempt to extend traditional nature conservation
to involve a wider constituency. No longer is it simply
the role of specialist agencies and voluntary wildlife bodies;
this new biodiversity agenda provides an opportunity for
many different people and organisations to contribute. It
takes nature conservation beyond the protection and management
of special sites, by emphasising the opportunities for action
throughout the environment.
In the context
of London, this wider landscape includes private gardens,
amenity open space, sports pitches, farmland and some ‘brownfield’
sites that fall outside the identified nature conservation
resource. These habitats often support considerable biodiversity.
Significant proportions of song thrush, common frog and
hedgehog populations, for instance, may depend on habitats
provided by residential gardens. Railsides, waterways and
reservoirs have immense value in their developing habitats
and bodies such as London Underground, Railtrack and British
Waterways have a significant role to play in developing
the new biodiversity agenda.
Involvement
of this wider range of bodies will be achieved through partnership
and consensus, with responsibility being taken by a whole
range of people and organisations able to deliver the ingredients
of a Local Biodiversity Action Plan.
Sites
of Importance for Nature Conservation
Sites of
Importance for Nature Conservation in London form a hierarchy
of three categories identified by the London Ecology Unit:
Sites of Metropolitan, Borough and Local Importance. More
than 1200 such sites have been identified in Greater London,
covering an area of over 28,000 hectares. In addition, a
network of Green Corridors extends from the Green Belt towards
the centre of the city.
All London
boroughs now have planning policies that seek to prevent
loss or damage to these sites. Some sites are afforded further
protection by their status as Site of Special Scientific
Interest, Special Protection Area, National Nature Reserve
or Local Nature Reserve, or because they are managed as
a nature reserve by a nature conservation body, local authority
or private landowner. Although the vast majority of important
areas are now protected through local planning policies
some are still being lost as a result of new developments.
This well-established system will continue to provide a
firm basis for biodiversity action in London.
Part
1, Part 3
Home
View from Canary Wharf © James Farrell
Wandle ©
William Morris
|
