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Biodiversity is the variety of plants and all living organisms. It can be as important in towns as it is in the countryside, as many underused sites (often categorised as brownfield by local councils) within towns have amazing plant and animal communities. There is a tendency for people to confuse having as wide a variety of life as possible with having a valuable variety of local wildlife. An example might be the idea that you could plant many varieties of trees and shrubs on a wet field on the edge of the Pennine moors. This would give you a great variety of plants and birds that they attract. However, the wet fields can be very important for a rare species of plant, or an uncommon bird like the lapwing, which cannot nest in woodland. Similarly, it is now clear that many British invertebrates are in serious decline. Their needs are not always being met, even on nature reserves, and it is not enough simply to rely for their survival on luck, and spin-off from management for other groups. Invertebrates' own habitat requirements must be carefully maintained to ensure survival of the full range of British species. There is a national Biodiversity Action Plan managed by English Nature and its country equivalents (see Partnership) which prioritises habitats and species nationally, and this is cascaded to local areas through local Biodiversity Action plans that reflect the national priorities but take local features into account too. These ensure, among other things, that well-meaning people don't accidentally destroy one set of plants and animals by putting another in its place, and help you to decide whether to restore areas to key local habitats. These are plans for conserving and enhancing the most locally important bits of biodiversity in the area, either specific species like the water vole, or habitats, like heathland. You need to make sure that you don't plan to do anything as part of your project that will inadvertently affect the wildlife that is already there. Your local biodiversity officer will be pleased to help you find out about what plants and animals use your site, and will be able to put you in touch with local naturalists and other organisations who can help you learn more. Monitoring the wildlife that uses your site is often a way that those who don't want to, or can't get involved in the practical work can participate. More positively, you could look at the LBAP and see if the information about species and habitats under threat locally can help you to plan your area. For instance skylarks are currently declining in numbers. They nest in open grassland, so if you had enough space you might decide to either: make part of your site a dog-free area so that they don't get disturbed, or divide your site into an area of flat mown grass for football and an area of rough grass, cut just once a year for nesting birds. This could have lots of benefits for other plants and animals too. When you start to find out more about it, conservation for biodiversity doesn't mean that people can't also benefit. All content copyright © 1986-2008 BTCV Ltd. Registered charity No. 261009 |
