It is now five years since the Suffolk Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) was launched in June 1998. The Suffolk Biodiversity Partnership has recently undertaken an audit of progress, looking at achievements for each of the 54 species action plans and 14 habitat action plans within the Suffolk BAP. The plans recognise wildlife, which is important in both a national and a local context.
In 2000 we reported that 10% of actions were completed and 53% were in progress. The picture is now looking brighter, our latest audit shows that 27% of actions are now complete and a further 55% are in progress. Of these, almost half of the species plans (22) and 8 of the 14 habitat action plans have over 25% of their actions completed. In this category are most of the mammal plans, stag beetle, pashford beetle (a rare leaf beetle), white-clawed crayfish, nightjar, stone curlew and bittern and several of the lower plants, unspotted lungwort, sandy stilt puffball, starry breck lichen, several arable wild plants and the black poplar. Habitat action plans with over 25% of their actions completed are reedbeds, wet woodland, coastal floodplain grazing marsh, saline lagoons, lowland heath, lowland dry acid grassland, species rich hedgerow and lowland hay meadows.
Although the plans are progressing well, the audit gives no indication of overall conservation status such as population numbers or condition of habitat remaining. This was not the objective of the audit but it is something that the Biodiversity Partnership hopes to set up with the help of Suffolk Biological Records Centre. The aim is to produce a “State of Nature” report for Suffolk, in a rolling five-year programme. Each of the BAP species is already assigned to one of the five habitat working groups: Coastal, Farmland, Heathland, Wetland and Woodland. Each year the plans in one group will be assessed. For many species and habitats it is still not possible to obtain accurate data on distribution, population size or habitat distribution and habitat quality. This is something the partnership hopes to address by emphasising the need for detailed recording of work undertaken on BAP species and habitats by all of our partner organisations.
Some examples of the biological data we still require include the distribution and population of great-crested newts, particularly in west Suffolk and the amount of heathland created and restored during the five years of the Suffolk BAP. Reasonable data is available for the coastal strip, thanks to English Nature’s Lifescapes Project. Encouraging partner organisations to keep centralised records of BAP species and habitat project work is essential, as is finding funds to survey species groups.
The aim of this audit has been to look at what we have achieved at this first significant milestone of the Suffolk Biodiversity Action Plan. The information gathered should help the partnership to plan and prioritise over the next five years. The audit has also helped us to establish where we have not achieved as much as we would have liked for key habitats and species. Several plans have more than 25% of their action points not yet started. These plans are for unspotted lungwort, reed bunting, shining ram’s horn snail, desmoulin’s whorl snail, greater water parsnip, eutrophic standing waters, harbour porpoise, bright wave moth, eel grass beds, adder, brown hare, spotted flycatcher, tree sparrow, cornflower, small-flowered catchfly, ancient and species-rich hedgerows.
Ironically, a number of the species mentioned as not progressing well, are those which have also completed 25% of their actions. This can be explained by the way many of the actions in the first set of plans were written. Many of the action points were aspirational and not easy to tick off as completed. Others emphasised the need to change national policies on land management which is not feasible for a local BAP. We are trying to ensure that all of the re-written, and any new, plans have measurable, realistic targets. We hope to publish the new plans by Christmas. They will be available to view over the internet on the Suffolk County Council web site. If you are interested in the findings of the Suffolk Biodiversity Audit we have a small number of copies available. Please contact Harriet Shackle at Suffolk Biodiversity Partnership, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH. Telephone (01473) 737743 or by email harriet@sbrc.globalnet.co.uk
Harriet Shackle
© 2003 Suffolk Naturalists' Society