Natural England

How best to use the new Mineral Development Frameworks to create more special places for wildlife has been the focus of a series of successful England-wide workshops.

The events were organised by the Nature After Minerals Programme – a partnership between the RSPB and Natural England, which aims to promote and deliver high quality wildlife habitat on minerals sites.

They brought together the minerals industry, planners and conservationists in an effort to influence the new Frameworks currently being drawn up by planning authorities around England. The Frameworks are strategic planning documents that set out how and where mineral extraction will take place within a local authority's area over a 10 to 15 year period.

They also require a site’s end use to be taken into account, offering an opportunity to include wildlife habitat in that thinking.

Jonathan Clarke of Natural England, said: “Strategic mineral planning is key to identifying the opportunities for creating high quality wildlife habitats in the right locations. The ALSF is designed to support projects that put money back into the natural environment and this project is the ideal recipient.

“The new Frameworks offer an exciting opportunity to focus efforts in a joined up way and we wanted to influence the process while they were evolving.”

He added: “We had more than 350 people in total at nine events, which is brilliant and there was lots of very positive feedback. Hopefully this will give people confidence that it is possible to make a real difference.”

The collected thoughts and ideas of the participants are now being summarised and will be placed online in early April at www.afterminerals.com, together with examples of how key Mineral Planning Authorities have approached the issue.

Nature After Minerals Programme Manager, Alice Davies, said: “This should provide an easily accessible pool of information. Rather than produce a hard copy, we used the website as the best medium to keep the information up to date and reflect the dynamic nature of the minerals planning process.”

Over the coming months the Programme will build on the success of the workshops, bringing together operators, planners and conservationists to talk about how to focus effort. Alice said: “We need to look at where extraction is happening, identify those areas with the potential for different wildlife habitats and then, rather than creating generic sites, we can focus action for conservation in the right places.”

For more information contact:

John Clare, RSPB Media Officer 01767 693582
Nuala Murray, Natural England Press Officer 01242 533398

Notes to editors:

Nature After Minerals is a three-year partnership between the RSPB and Natural England with two overarching aims:) To deliver more appropriate, high-quality and sustainable priority biodiversity habitat on mineral sites; ii) To promote high-quality restorations and raise awareness of the huge conservation potential of minerals sites. This latest project was supported through Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF).

The Aggregates Levy is a tax on the production of primary aggregates (sand, gravel and crushed rock used, for example, in the construction industry). Introduced in April 2002 part of the money raised is to fund the Sustainability Fund. This fund, the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund or ALSF, aims to address the environmental and social cost of aggregate extraction by delivering environmental improvements, minimising the demand for primary aggregates, promoting environmentally friendly extraction and transport, encouraging the use of recycled and alternative materials, and reducing the local effects of aggregate extraction. Natural England is one of a number of organisations selected by Defra to award Sustainability Fund grants for projects, which reduce the effects of aggregate extraction. Natural England ’s ALSF Grant Scheme aims to support projects that reduce or research the effects of aggregate extraction on nature conservation, landscapes, access, informal recreation and communities.

To find out more about how Minerals Development Frameworks can benefit wildlife, go to www.afterminerals.com and click on ‘planning’.

Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.