From Global to Local
2. The Lancashire Biodiversity Action Plan
The UK Steering Group produced guidance (5) to locally based organisations to encourage the production of local plans. This guidance has informed the production of Lancashire’s ‘Local Biodiversity Action Plan’ (LBAP) that you are reading.
The UK Steering Group emphasised the importance early in the LBAP process of forming partnerships of interested parties and of assessing the biodiversity resource within an area.
How do we assess Lancashire's Wildlife Resource?
A number of agencies in North West of England responded to the challenge set by the UK Steering Group to produce LBAPs for locally important habitats and species. In November 1996 key organisations met at a conference in Preston, Lancashire and decided that there should be an Audit that identified habitats and species of conservation importance at a regional level. The Audit would then inform the production of Local Biodiversity Action Plans and provide a basis for targeting the allocation of resources, as well as for strategic regional planning and economic initiatives.
Following the conference, the Regional Biodiversity Steering Group (RBSG) was established with representatives from a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations.
The RBSG commissioned an Audit of North West England to identify its significant habitats and species, and to provide a regional context for the many organisations involved to take full account of conservation needs and to establish their priorities for biodiversity conservation. 'Wild About the North West: A Biodiversity Audit of North West England' (6) was published in January 1999.
The RBSG has evolved into the North West Biodiversity Forum, a grouping that continues to oversee and co-ordinate biodiversity initiatives within the region.
The Audit initiative opened the door to the production of Lancashire's own plan. It prompted a conference in May 1998 that discussed the creation of a Lancashire Biodiversity Action Plan. Over 100 participants came together representing local authority, Government agencies, industry, landowners, farmers and the voluntary sector. A list of participants is included in Appendix 1.
The conference participants agreed that an LBAP should be prepared for the area within the present local government boundaries of the county of Lancashire, and the unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool Boroughs. As an expression of the commitment to the LBAP process the ‘Lancashire Biodiversity Declaration’ was launched at the conference (see Box 2)
So far, over 50 separate Lancastrian organisations have signed the Declaration. A full list of those that have signed is contained within the Appendix 2. Organisations and individuals that would like to join the Partnership by signing the Declaration, can find a form also in the Appendix 2.
The conference recommended that a Steering Group should be set up and resources identified to establish a Plan co-ordinator’s post. The Steering Group was established to reflect the broad interests in the Plan and its implementation and its present membership can be seen in the Appendix 3. It was decided that contact should be maintained with the rest of the partnership process via a newsletter "Diversity". Partners would be kept informed of progress and encouraged to input into LBAP process through the newsletter and through further conferences and workshops.
An application to fund a Project Officer for two years was approved by the Lancashire Environmental Fund (see Box 3) in October 1998 with matched funding from Lancashire County Council and the Environment Agency. The two year project culminated in the production of this ‘Biodiversity Action Plan for Lancashire’.
The Plan has been written to focus resources to conserve and enhance biodiversity by means of local partnerships, taking account of both national, regional and Lancashire priorities. The Plan aims to fulfil a number of functions:
We hope that the users and uses of the Lancashire Biodiversity Action Plan will be many and varied. There are a number of groups who are vital to the implementation of the plan including land managers, farmers, local authorities, government agencies, educational establishments, the voluntary sector and of course individuals. A ‘People Plan’ integrated within the BAP, explores the possible involvement of a range of user groups and suggests the types of actions they may undertake.
The first challenge was to decide what should be included within the Plan. National guidance sets some common standards for what should be included in an LBAP. Among the most important elements suggested are individual plans for particular species and habitats of special concern in the plan area. These plans are known respectively as ‘Habitat Action Plans’ (or ‘HAPs’) and ‘Species Action Plans’ (‘SAPs’). These HAPs and SAPs include targets for maintaining, restoring and re-establishing habitats and species throughout the plan area.
The Lancashire Biodiversity Steering Group established a 'Technical Working Group' to provide scientific input and support to Lancashire BAP process. The membership of this Working Group is given in Appendix 3. The Working Group’s first task was to draw up a list for Steering Group approval of those HAPs and SAPs that should be included in the first tranche of plans to be produced for Lancashire.
The Working Group adapted the national guidance to derive a set of criteria to select HAP and SAP candidates. These criteria were then applied to the data collected in the North West Biodiversity Audit. This resulted in a list of 29 species and 10 habitats that was approved by the Steering Group. A more detailed explanation of the process of HAP and SAP selection is contained in Appendix 4 but a brief summary is provided in Box 4 below.
Suggested habitat evaluation criteria:
The Regional Biodiversity Audit was invaluable for the selection of UK priority habitats and species that occurred in Lancashire. The list was then further amended through discussion with local experts and groups to add, for instance, species with particular local threats or with a considerable contribution to local distinctiveness.
The UK Biodiversity Group has provided guidance on the format for HAPs and SAPs and explains the importance of:
Having decided which plans were to be written, local experts were approached to author the first drafts. To encourage a common approach to the writing of the plans, some guidance notes were produced for authors, along with template plans. Each plan went through several drafts with the Technical Group playing a leading role in suggesting amendments. Once the plan was nearing its final draft it was edited further to ensure its conformity with the others in terms of layout and style.
A consultation draft of the main parts of the BAP was circulated to over 130 organisations and individuals in January 2001. The present BAP has been amended taking account, so far as has been possible, of the responses received. A summary of the consultation process is provided in Appendix 6. A glossary of technical terms used is also provided along with an explanation of the layout adopted for each of the HAPs and SAPs.
Early in the BAP process it was realised that the awareness and involvement of people would be key to the eventual success of the action plans. For this reason, as well as the ‘Technical Working Group’ there was established an 'Education and Publicity Working Group.' This Group brought together a wide range of individuals with expertise in raising awareness and working with different sectors of the community. A number of meetings were convened with the aim of developing a 'People Plan'. This Plan was envisaged as a document that would guide awareness raising activities.
The People Plan is included in this BAP.