Planning for wildlife
Luke Bristow Wildlife Sites Officer, Essex Wildlife Trust, The Joan Elliot Visitor
Centre, Abbotts Hall Farm, Great Wigborough
The planning system in England is changing, and there is real potential for securing a
better future for wildlife. Many Local Authorities (LA's) in Essex have begun drafting
new Local Development Frameworks (LDFs); plans that will govern how local services
are provided and administered, including "biodiversity". Most of us are familiar with
legal protection afforded national and international sites of wildlife importance, e.g.
SSSI, SAC, SPA and RAMSAR. However, much of what is important to us locally has
no similar protection, and the only means of safeguarding such areas is to get them
identified in local development plans. Whilst this is not a perfect solution, it does allow
us to move from a reactive, "last-minute", stance, to a more proactive position, which
will enable us to influence the decisions of District and Regional Planners. These decisions
often have critical implications for wildlife, but are typically made many years before
their impacts materialise in the form of damaging activities to sites of value.
So, what relevance is this to local naturalists? Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT), as a consultee,
is in a position to influence policies relating to Local Wildlife Sites; our first suggestion
to LAs, drafting new plans, is to commission a district-wide habitat survey to update the
1990-92 fieldwork, which underpinned the original selection Sites of Importance for
Nature Conservation (SINCs), now referred to as County Wildlife Sites* (CWS).
Unfortunately, many LAs seem reluctant to review Wildlife Sites, either through lack of
funding or understanding of their value. For example, many important brown field sites
have no form of designation.
As a result, EWT is taking a lead in developing a series of strategy maps, which illustrate
important protected "Habitat Hotspots" for wildlife at County and District level. To this
we would like to add "Species Hotspots" based upon records of notable plants and
animals, e.g. National & Essex Red Data Book, and BAP species. Overlaying the
distribution of both uncommon species and protected habitats should enable us to identify:
• sites of wildlife value that currently have no protection (e.g. Potential
CWSs);
• key green corridors; and
• opportunities for restoring habitats.
The maps we present to planners need to be clear and concise, and based upon robust
information for them to be adopted. In addition, they need to be submitted at the earliest
possible stage in the LDF process. However, many LAs have begun drafting their plans,
with the rest set to follow shortly.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 49, January 2006 9