UK Biodiversity Action Plan

Biodiversity is the amazing variety of life on earth, all living things, including us.

In the UK 391 species and 45 habitats have been listed as priority species and have action plans.  Progress towards actions and targets set in these plans are reported on every 3 years.  Of these 175 species and 38 habitats are relevant to Wales.

Progress towards 2010 targets in Wales -
Wales Report from the 2005 UK BAP Reporting Round

This report is fully interactive, giving an overview of the Welsh subset of data and allowing full detail. Please explore this data and click on the tables and graphs to see the detailed data.

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit saw the first such gathering of world leaders with a common concern about the state of our world's environment.

A programme of action to promote Sustainable Development was prepared from this Summit called Agenda 21. Over 170 countries signed the agreement, including the UK. One of the elements was to develop the Biodiversity Action Plan.

The UK Government “Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan” was published in 1994 and a Biodiversity Steering Group was established in order to implement the work programme contained within the plan.

The UK Biodiversity Steering Group set aims and targets including the development of costed plans for most habitats and species in decline or under threat; and the promotion of Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs). These local plans are crucial to making conservation happen at the local level.

The key mechanisms are:

• Partnership - action involving the mutual co-operation of statutory, voluntary, academic and business sectors at both national and local levels.
• Targets - measurable outcomes need to be established that address the needs of species and habitat types of most concern to biodiversity conservation.
• Policy Integration - recognise that shifts in policy are needed to reverse the decline in the UK biodiversity resource and to support sustainable development in all sectors of society.
• Information - while sound science and knowledge should underpin decisions, recognise that new approaches are required to fill information gaps and understanding and to manage the information already available more efficiently.
• Public Awareness - public understanding and action is needed to support the changes needed to maintain biodiversity.

Visit the UK Biodiveristy Action Plan website at http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-5155

From here you can:

• Find out about UK biodiversity by accessing the local, species and habitat action plan summaries;
• Look at the partners page to read about biodiversity groups and search for organisations;
• Download reports, guidance notes, news and documents from the library;
• Explore the factors (keywords) affecting the decline of species or habitats.