The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan

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The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan

Avon's Biodiversity

Biodiversity is a term used to describe the variety of life on earth. Despite its large urban population, Avon has a rich and diverse range of wildlife, and retains a significant proportion of the UK's overall resource of important wildlife sites, habitats and species. For example, it has important populations of lesser and greater Horse shoe bats, water voles and dormice, and internationally important habitats such as the Severn estuary that support populations of wild birds of European importance. However, there have been significant declines in some habitats and species in past years and much of our wildlife is still under threat.

At the National, Regional and local level UK conservation organisations and partnerships are conserving and enhancing biodiversity through drawing up and implementing Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs). Each plan sets out a series of actions which need to be taken to ensure that the decline of a species is stopped and its situation improved within a number of years.

Conservation at the National level - The UK BAP and England Biodiversity Strategy

The UK Government is committed to a UK BAP with 391 Species Action Plans, and 45 Habitat Action Plans

Conservation at the Regional level - The SW Regional Biodiversity Partnership

The South West region has a strong and active partnership and promotes and enables the delivery of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan through regional and local biodiversity action in line with the England Biodiversity Strategy

Conservation at the Local level - The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan

There are 162 Local Biodiversity Action Plans with targeted actions. The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan is the first over-arching conservation strategy for the former county of Avon. It was formally launched in 2004 and has a ten year timescale. The BAP identifies and targets what need to happen for Avon’s most valuable habitats and species and for cross-cutting issues such as education over the next ten years. The Partnership is supported by a full-time Biodiversity Action Plan Co-ordinator, Matt Hamilton, and is chaired by Natural England. Through Focus group meetings a number of important projects have been identified to meet BAP targets.

The main aims are to:

Champion and promote local biodiversity and its distinctiveness;
Implement actions in order to achieve the objectives and meet the targets outlined in the Avon BAP
Facilitate communication and sharing of best-practice and skills;
Seek opportunities for joint projects where possible;
Monitor biodiversity and biodiversity action;
Report back annually on its achievements.

The Partnership’s vision for Avon

A landscape rich in wildlife, where species and habitats are part of healthy, functioning ecosystems that are well-managed and valued by everyone; where conservation of biodiversity is integrated with social, cultural and economic activities.

Visit our website to find out more:

Avon Biodiversity Action Plan

Severn Walks

Download a PDF guide here

Links to the Avon Biodiversity Partnership Partnership Steering Group Members

Avon Wildlife Trust

Bath and North East Somerset Council

Bristol City Council

Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre

Environment Agency

Natural England

North Somerset Council

South Gloucestershire Council

West of England Partnership