Response to the Committee's Recomendations
Principles for Biodiversity Policy
Recommendation (a). We believe that, for biodiversity policy to have long-term credibility, it needs to be based on far better knowledge of the natural environment than we have now, and should be grounded in a set of principles which can be used to test individual policies and actions.
Recommendation (ii). The public have great enthusiasm for nature conservation, will happily rally to the support of the red squirrel, the barn owl or a rare orchid, but for the most part are put off biodiversity by feeling that it is bureaucratic and muddled. If the public imagination is to be fired and they are to be persuaded to pay for biodiversity actions through their taxes, biodiversity policy must be grounded in sound principles which are clearly set out.
The Government agrees that biodiversity policy should be based on the best available scientific information and that there is a need to improve on the information currently available. The United Kingdom probably has as much information on its native biodiversity as any country in the world but there is a need to strengthen this in some areas, especially those such as invertebrates and lower plants which have traditionally been less well covered. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is currently developing a framework for the surveillance and monitoring of biodiversity. This includes new survey and monitoring schemes to cover groups such as mammals and threatened plants where knowledge is currently lacking.
The criteria for determining priority species and habitat action plans established by the UK Biodiversity Steering Group were based on scientific principles and not on sentimental grounds. For example, the largest number of species Action Plans is in the taxonomic group representing lower plants such as fungi, lichen and mosses. The target based approach adopted in the plans provides an effective mechanism against which to test policies and actions. Nevertheless, we believe that the identification of flagship species can often be a way of engaging the public, especially at the local level where the opportunities for direct involvement are greatest. This can lead to better public understanding of the complexities of the ‘web of life’ and the ways in which they can contribute.
The Government therefore agrees that more needs to be done to improve public understanding of biodiversity and to persuade people of the need to change their behaviour to help conserve it as part of sustainable development. This will be a central issue for the England Biodiversity Strategy, which we announced in the Government’s Rural White Paper, Our Countryside: The Future – a Fair Deal for Rural England. In the meantime, the Biodiversity theme month promoted by ‘Going for Green’ in March this year will provide information and opportunities for public involvement. It will target gardening for the benefit of biodiversity, for example by featuring the promotion of peat free compost to gardeners.
Recommendation (b). We recommend that efforts now be focused on the Habitat Action Plans: we consider these to be worthy of a greater emphasis than the Species Action Plans. The UK Biodiversity Group should be given the task of establishing precisely what the barriers are to effective implementation of the Habitat Action Plans and how to overcome them.
Recommendation (c). We urge the Government to press ahead with the process of grouping action plans with similar aims under ‘umbrellas’ to simplify the plan process, thereby improving the co-ordination of the plans and speeding up their implementation.
The Government does not believe that there is a need to change the twin-track habitat and species approach and give greater emphasis to habitats over species. To do so could be detrimental to many of our most seriously declining species, which are widely distributed rather than being associated with particular habitats, and require targeted action for their particular conservation needs.
The Government does agree that there would be advantages in further grouping of Species and Habitat action plans. A number of habitat and species “umbrella” groups have recently been established, particularly for marine habitats and species. We will continue to encourage the partnerships responsible for implementation of the plans to pursue joint working for associated species and habitats where it can provide better coordination and use of resources. We believe that this will assist in learning from those habitats where greater progress has been made, for example reedbeds and woodlands, and we expect the UK Biodiversity Group to continue to facilitate this process.
Published 21 May 2001
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