Biodiversity is the diversity of life
Biodiversity is the diversity fo life. It includes mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and plants as well as the woodlands, grasslands, rivers and seas on which they depend.
Biodiversity includes everyone and is a reflection of how land is managed, from gardens and road verges to farms and woodlands. At South Gloucestershire Council biodiversity is championed by the Natural Environment Team. We also have many active and enthusiastic local people and organisations working for wildllife. You can find out more about the partnerhsips under 'biodiversity partnerships'.
An action plan
At the 1992 'Earth Summit' in Rio, the UK government signed up to the Global Biodiversity Convention and promised to provide action for our threatened UK plants and animals to significantly reduce the decline of biodiversity.
The UK government has also signed up to 'Count Down 2010' and joined the global pledge to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010.
The Local Biodiversity Action Plan for South Gloucestershire will help meet these pledges at our local level and sets out the action required to protect, enhance and restore our biodiversity 2006-2015.
Our local biodiversity
South Gloucestershire is rich in wildlife and there are many areas of importance. Here are some highlights:
- South Gloucestershire borders the Severn Estuary – nationally important for its bird life, saltmarshes and marshland
- South Gloucestershire includes parts of the Cotswolds – nationally important for their distinctive landscapes for wildlife, including unimproved flower-rich grasslands
- Otters are returning to our rivers, and great crested newts are also found in some ponds
- Lower Woods in Wickwar is one of England's largest ancient woodlands – it has an amazing array of wildlife such as dormice and nightingales
- Traditional agricultural areas include hay meadows, species-rich hedgerows and farmland birds and flowers – remnants of these are all around us in South Gloucestershire