What is the UK BAP?

• County, regional and local BAPs

Country, regional and local BAP groups

The RSPB is actively involved in delivering the targets of Local Biodiversity Action Plans through its conservation work.

The Species and Habitat Action Plans were originally produced as UK plans, setting out targets for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as a whole.

However, since work on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan was started we have seen devolution of certain UK responsibilities, including nature conservation, to the Country administrations.

The arrival of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly has meant that increasingly biodiversity is being looked at from a country perspective. This has resulted in the development of individual country groups to co-ordinate and encourage biodiversity conservation at their respective national levels. They are:

• England Biodiversity Group
• Northern Ireland Biodiversity Group
• Scottish Biodiversity Forum 
• Wales Biodiversity Partnership      

This has led to the production of Biodiversity Strategies in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. In Wales, biodiversity issues are covered in the Environment Strategy Wales. For further information on these strategies and the work at the country level follow the appropriate link.

Implementation at country level is being shadowed by the non government organisations (NGOs), including the RSPB. For example, in England the umbrella body, Wildlife and Countryside Link, has formed a biodiversity task force. This task force brings together a number of NGOs to try to monitor and influence progress of the England Biodiversity Strategy.

Biodiversity Action Plans in the English Regions

In England, the development of regional structures (eg Regional Development Agencies, Government Offices and Regional Assemblies) means that, increasingly, key decisions concerning biodiversity conservation are being made at this regional level. 

Regional Biodiversity Partnerships/Fora have therefore been formed in each of the nine English regions. These partnerships bring together a range of agencies and organisations with expertise on biodiversity conservation (including the RSPB) and are well placed to influence regional policies (such as Regional Sustainable Development Frameworks, Spatial Strategies and Economic Strategies), identify funding opportunities and collate biodiversity reporting data.  

The Partnerships or Fora have produced regional biodiversity audits, biodiversity strategies or similar and most have agreed regional biodiversity targets.

Further information on biodiversity work in the English regions can be found on the Local and Regional section of the England Biodiversity Group website.

Local Biodiversity Action Plans

One of the key aspects of biodiversity policy in the UK is the development of Local Biodiversity Action Plans. These plans are written to complement the UK Species and Habitat Action Plans (UK Biodiversity Action Plan). The purpose of LBAPs is 'to focus resources to conserve and enhance biodiversity by means of local partnerships, taking account of both national and local priorities.'

The functions of LBAPs can be summarised as follows:

• Ensuring that national targets for species and habitats are translated, where possible, into effective action at the local level.
• Identifying targets for species and habitats appropriate to the local area.
• Developing local partnerships to ensure that biodiversity work is implemented and maintained in the long term.
• Raising awareness of the need for biodiversity conservation locally.
• Ensuring that opportunities for conservation and enhancement of the whole biodiversity resource are fully considered.
• Providing a basis for monitoring progress in biodiversity conservation at a local level.    

Over 150 LBAPs have been drawn up over recent years. The geographical scope of these plans and the nature of the partnerships have varied according to local circumstances. Some plans have been drawn up to cover whole regions (eg Tayside and SW England) or counties in England, while others have been developed for smaller areas such as district or parish level.

The RSPB is actively involved in delivering the targets of Local Biodiversity Action Plans through its conservation work. The RSPB is therefore contributing to many LBAP partnerships and will contribute to the further development and implementation of LBAPs as staff and financial resources allow.

Guidance and co-ordination of LBAPs is the responsibility of the respective biodiversity Country Groups (see above).

Further information on LBAPs can be found on the UK Biodiversity website.

Last modified: 02 October 2006

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