Biodiversity

Our vision

We aim to work with others to help conserve and, where possible, enhance the environmental integrity and biodiversity of our region.

What steps are needed for this?

We believe we need to:

• positively manage our own land to maximise biodiversity, while minimising threats to wildlife from new infrastructure
• prevent loss of environmental features (eg, habitats, ecosystem functions, landscape quality) through our operations and construction work
• actively work with others to protect biodiversity in various ways, eg, discussion of investment schemes and biodiversity action plan grants.

Where are we now?

We are located in an environmentally sensitive region. There are more than 450 SSSIs, almost 7,000 county wildlife sites and more than 4,000 Scheduled Ancient Monuments within our area. We also have a high density of Natura 2000 sites.

These all influence how we look after and develop our assets.

These sites are legally protected and it is vital we take into account the impact of our activities on them, as well as enhance them were possible. To help us with this:

• our site ecological database gives a record of the most sensitive areas – assisting site management by operational staff and contractors
• our in-house environmental services team carry out environmental assessments and ecological surveys to identify the environmental impact of construction projects
• environmental method statements are prepared to minimise any impacts
• we have a biodiversity action plan partners programme. The programme funds water related biodiversity projects, such as habitat restoration and creation
• we have site environment plans in place at key sites. These can change how we manage or maintain our sites in order to improve them for biodiversity.

With a range of ongoing and planned activities to help progress against our vision’s aims, during 2009-10 we have:

• achieved the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 14001 standard for environmental management
• through our Biodiversity Action plan, funded conservation work outside our landholding to benefit wildlife across the region
• carried out scrub management works on several SSSI sites on the Dorset heathlands and Exmoor. This work has involved extensive removal of semi-mature trees and smaller species, eg, bramble or bracken, to begin returning areas to open heath habitat
• worked with some of our tenants on sensitive landholdings to enter higher level stewardship management agreements to assist with the long-term maintenance of sites in a favourable condition. We have also been jointly reviewing and discussing management options with Natural England and our tenants to improve the condition of sites around the region to meet national targets
• continued the complex work on the wildlife management plan, eg, implemented a revised grass cutting regime to benefit orchid species. Working with local groups, grass cutting and a programme of reed clearance is helping to keep and improve biodiversity opportunities at a valued local nature reserve at Backwell, near Bristol
• introduced site specific management plans.

Last year we achieved 84% compliance of SSSI sites in favourable or recovering condition. Following reassessments, some of our tenanted landholdings have been unable to fully reach the difficult standards and have been downgraded.

We have worked with these tenants to look at new management agreements and have been liaising with other conservation organisations who may be able to bring in the specialist resources, such as cattle for grazing, to improve conditions.

We have also brought some sites back under our direct management and will be introducing additional management to improve the status, moving us closer to the our target of 95% by December 2010.

More detailed information about biodiversity:

Read all about it! The launch of our environmental newsletter – Wild Watch!
Embedding biodiversity – the role of our biodiversity ecologist