National Action

Landscape and Habitat Quality, and Species Diversity

In recent years, there has been a strong commitment to protect and enhance the landscape through the designation of protected areas. This has been both on a national and an international scale. In an attempt to combat biodiversity loss, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity was signed by 150 countries at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

The commitments made at Rio in 1992 were reaffirmed at the World Summit for Sustainable Development at Johannesburg in 2002, with agreement to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, and to implement strategies to support ecosystems.

The UK government’s response to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity was the publication of ‘Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan’ (UK BAP) in 1994. This sets out the broad strategy up to 2014 for ensuring the sustainable use of biological resources, and conserving and enhancing wild species and habitats in the UK. Following the launch of the strategy, action plans were produced for the most threatened 116 species and 14 habitats. 1252 species are also being monitored to provide a check on biodiversity in the UK. The strategy also aimed to identify reasons for the decline of each species and habitat so that measures could be put in place to reduce these. In 1998-1999 the action plan was expanded further and included 391 species and 45 habitats.

UK BAP progress is measured every 3 years. The latest report was published in 2002 (there should be an updated report published sometime in 2006). To view the report see www.ukbap.org.uk.

A number of other initiatives have also been introduced to further combat biodiversity and species loss in the UK. These include:

• The Habitats Directive established in 1992 provides the framework for increasing the protection of wildlife areas. This includes acknowledging certain sites as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC).
• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) are designated by the Countryside Agency based on a number of criteria. Designated areas receive special funding to ensure good management and sustainable development within them. They may also be subject to planning restrictions. There are currently 37 AONB, covering approximately 15% of England.
• Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) provide increased protection to the habitats and species within them. There are currently 608 designated Special Areas of Conservation in the UK covering an area of 2,504,016 ha.

Sustainable Rural Land Management

Government intervention into farming practices aims to reduce the negative impacts of agriculture by introducing new legislation, stronger planning policies, and agri-environment incentive schemes. One such scheme is Environmental Stewardship ; this scheme focuses on protecting and enhancing the environment by encouraging effective environmental management of the land. Funding is provided to farmers, and other land managers if they meet environmental standards. There are currently over 1,800,000 ha under Environmental Stewardship agreement.

There are different levels to the Environmental Stewardship scheme, with the entry-level scheme focussing on simple environmental management procedures, whereas the higher-level scheme will be more stringent and focus on particular objectives such as wildlife conservation, protection of the historic environment, maintenance and enhancement of landscape quality and character, promoting public access and understanding, and resource protection.

Developing and encouraging the organic farming sector is a good way to promote sustainable rural land management. Organic farming doesn’t use artificial fertilisers or pesticides, encourages crop rotation, makes the most of natural fertilisers and ensures the life of the soil is maintained. Animals are kept in ways that minimise the need for medicines and other chemical treatments.

Defra has outlined a number of benefits from organic farming as compared to conventional. These include:

• Higher levels of biodiversity
• Less environmental pollution from pesticides
• Reduced CO 2 emissions through lower energy inputs
• Reduced generation of controlled waste due to less reliance on external materials.

There is also opportunity for the diversification of agriculture through the production of non-food crops such as growing biomass crops for energy. This would reduce the use of fossil fuels and contribute to the UK’s climate change and renewable energy targets.

Coastal Environment

Safeguarding Our Seas – ‘A Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of our Marine Environment’ is the government’s strategy for protecting the coastal environment, and the actions we need to take to achieve this. An important element, involves developing integrated coastal zone management to ensure closer collaboration between all those who manage or influence the marine environment, both at a national and international level. A number of targets have been set, including by 2010 identifying and designating areas of the coast as ‘marine protected areas’. These sites can then be managed and protected more effectively.

To view the Strategy See: Defra's Safegaurding Our Seas web page

The Water Framework Directive will help to protect coastal waters against pollution, and has set a deadline of 2015 for meeting water quality targets.

The UK Biodiversity Strategy will help to protect important marine species and habitats.

The Townscape and Historic Environment

A lot of effort is now being taken to ensure that the built environment and sites of archaeological importance are fully taken into account in planning new developments and encouraging conservation-led restoration

As well as protecting individual sites and buildings, townscapes as a whole are important. It is widely acknowledged that character-led approaches provide a positive way of evaluating the historic significance of areas; therefore these factors need to be taken into account in the earliest stages of planning decisions. It is also important to ensure and promote access for all to the educational, training and leisure opportunities that our built environment and archaeological sites have to offer.