England Biodiversity Strategy
19 August 2011
The Government has today published a new England Biodiversity Strategy, which introduces a package of measures to halt the decline of our wildlife and its habitats.
English sandwort (c) Peter Roworth
Biodiversity is fundamental to our survival and Biodiversity 2020: a Strategy for England’s Wildlife and Ecosystem Services
represents a groundbreaking action plan to protect threatened species, restore habitats and place biodiversity at the heart of Government decisions by 2020.
Dr Pete Brotherton, Natural England’s Head of Biodiversity and one of the plan’s advisors said; “Our natural environment on land and at sea needs to be more resilient; wildlife must be able to thrive in well maintained habitats if it is to continue to provide us with essential services including food and clean water. This Strategy provides an important framework for how this can be achieved.”
The Strategy includes the following priorities:
Creating 200,000 hectares of new wildlife habitats by 2020 – this is equivalent to an area the size of Warwickshire
Securing 50% of SSSIs in favourable condition, while maintaining at least 95% in favourable or recovering condition
Trialling new approaches to setting fishing quotas to reduce discards
Encouraging more people to get involved in conservation by supporting wildlife gardening and outdoor learning programmes
Introducing a new designation for local green spaces to enable communities to protect places that are important to them
Biodiversity 2020 will help to deliver the commitments made at the UN Biodiversity summit in Nagoya last year and in the Natural Environment White Paper which was launched in June. Natural England has a key role to play and is one of the lead partners responsible for ensuring the objectives set by the Strategy are delivered.
The Strategy’s success will depend on the co-ordinated efforts of partnerships involving statutory, voluntary, academic, business sectors and the public. These will be supported by Local Nature Partnerships across England, which build on the existing success of local networks, backed by a £1m fund being provided for 2011/12.
Natural England have also joined forces with the Environment Agency, the Forestry Commission and the Marine Management Agency to issue the following joint statement: (70kb)
, demonstrating the commitment of the three agencies to work together in delivering Biodiversity 2020.
Pete concluded; “The England Biodiversity Strategy provides a clear direction for conservation action over the coming decade. Our wildlife and habitats depend on co-ordinated action to halt their loss and ultimately reverse their decline and this Strategy will galvanise activity across Government, environmental organisations, businesses, land owners and local communities. We look forward to continuing our work with a wide range of partners to enrich our natural environment, upon which our economy and well-being depend.”
