Nature protection and biodiversity - National Responses (United Kingdom)

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was the UK Government's response to the CBD.  Published in 1994, the BAP drew together existing instruments and programmes for nature conservation throughout the UK, set out a series of activities for a 20 year period, and recognised the need for specific biological targets and plans for the recovery of species and habitats to help drive forward their conservation. 

Following devolution and a number of other high-level drivers, a new strategic framework was published in 2007: ’Conserving Biodiversity – the UK approach‘.  This new approach is based upon the twin principles of partnership and the ecosystem approach. 

Underpinning the UK framework are country strategies for biodiversity in each of the four countries of the UK.  These include further priorities and are supported by additional measures and indicators, reflecting the countries’ different priorities and means of delivery.

The four country strategies are:

·         Working with the grain of nature: A biodiversity strategy for England, Defra, 2002  http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/biodiversity/documents/biostrategy.pdf

·         Scotland’s Biodiversity, It’s In Your Hands; A Strategy for the Conservation and Enhancement of Biodiversity in Scotland, Scottish Executive, 2004    http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/25954/0014583.pdf. 

·         Environment Strategy for Wales, Welsh Assembly Government, 2006  http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/epq/envstratforwales/;jsessionid=vN4dJ6BLw6whgdhWdGmYnx2vZpbmNgyKT7y1nvhzy1zMljfGxrGk!2101391267?lang=en

·         Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy, Northern Ireland Biodiversity Group, 2002 http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/nibs2002.pdf. 

Objectives of the strategies are generally to:

• Halt the loss of biodiversity and continue to reverse previous losses through targeted actions for species and habitats.
• Increase awareness, understanding and enjoyment of biodiversity, and engage more people in conservation and enhancement.
• Restore and enhance biodiversity in urban, rural and marine environments through better planning, design and practice.
• Develop an effective management framework that ensures biodiversity is taken into account in wider decision making.
• Ensure knowledge on biodiversity is available to all policy makers and practitioners.

Implementing the strategies is a cross-government responsibility, seeking to make biodiversity part of the mainstream of policies and incorporate the relevant UK BAP targets at the country level.  Statutory duties on public bodies to have regard for  biodiversity conservation when undertaking their functions have been introduced by the Devolved Administrations.  Our landscape and surrounding seas are required to accommodate a range of requirements - food, fibre, housing, infrastructure, energy, biodiversity, enjoyment, etc  - i.e. ecosystem services.  The key is to find optimal solutions to the needs of society while safeguarding and where possible restoring the natural environment. 

The UK is the first country in the world to have a legally binding long term framework to cut CO₂ emissions and adapt to climate change.  The Climate Change Act 2008 and the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 create a new approach to managing and responding to climate change in the UK through setting ambitious targets, taking powers to help achieve them, strengthening the institutional framework, and establishing clear and regular accountability.  The statutory UK risk assessment will help set priorities for adaptation programmes, and to make sure that other policies reflect the potential risks and opportunities posed by climate change. 

A Marine and Coastal Access Act came into law in late 2009.  This contains an integrated set of complementary proposals for a new approach to the management of activities in English, Welsh and UK offshore waters.  Part 5 of the Act provides for the designation and effective protection of a new type of marine protected area, to be called Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).  These can be used to conserve habitats and species of national importance, and will help to create an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas around the UK. MCZs will have clear conservation objectives and will be protected through a series of duties placed on public authorities.  Other provisions dealing with marine planning, licensing, the creation of a new Marine Management Organisation and Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities, and improved enforcement powers, will also help to improve the management and conservation of marine biodiversity.  Similar proposals are under way in Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

The UK list of priority species was thoroughly reviewed in 2005/6, resulting in the new BAP priority list of 1150 species being published in 2007.  This was a considerable increase on the original list, partly due to increased information but also because of new or increased declines in some species.  Most of the species in the original BAP list were re-selected, although 123 species no longer met the criteria and were removed.  The UK BAP indicator (included in Table 1) is based on the 339 species for which data were available.

The UK list of priority habitats was also reviewed in 2007, increasing the number of priority habitats from 49 to 65 with none being removed.  These cover a wide range of natural and semi-natural habitats that are judged to be particularly important for biodiversity conservation.  The UK BAP indicator (included in Table 1) is based on the 43 habitats for which data were available. 

The UK has put considerable effort into developing agri-environment schemes, which require farmers to implement environmentally-beneficial management and demonstrate good environmental practice on their farm.  Entry level schemes aim to encourage large numbers of farmers, across all farmland, to implement simple and effective environmental management on their farms.  Higher level schemes are more targeted: to conserve wildlife; maintain and enhance landscape quality and character; protect the historic environment and natural resources, and to promote public access and the understanding of the countryside. 

Conserving Biodiversity – the UK approach also puts UK work into an international context and sets out how UK will work with its Overseas Territories.  In this regard Her Majesty’s Government has agreed a new Strategy for addressing biodiversity issues in the OTs (December 2009).  In addition the UK continues to fund biodiversity projects in developing countries through the £7m per year Darwin Initiative, collaborating with institutions in host countries.  Moreover, the UK has provided input to The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) project which will help to understand the value of ecosystem services and provide the basis for the selection of indicators around the increased emphasis on ecosystem services in the post 2010 targets.

On a national level, the UK is undertaking a National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), starting in 2009 and based on the MA framework.  The National Ecosystem Assessment will be completed in 2011.  It will make a major contribution to the provision of an evidence base to support implementation of an ecosystem approach to policy and decision making.  The first phase will be to provide a high level assessment of the status and trends of ecosystems and the services they deliver.  The second phase will look at the future and how the ecosystems and services are likely to change, and possible policy options. 

Plant Diversity Challenge is the UK’s response to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, and also contributes towards the European Strategy for Plant Conservation (revised in 2008).  Progress in the last five years is documented in a report published in 2007 ‘Plant Diversity Challenge: 3 years – 16 targets – 1 challenge’. 

The GB invasive non-native species framework strategy was launched in May 2008.  Following on from the Invasive Species in Ireland Report the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Dublin (NPWS), jointly initiated the 'Invasive Species in Ireland Project' in 2006 to address the issues in an island of Ireland context.