Holly
Smith - 15-Dec-2006 - Licence checks that protect
internationally important wildlife sites during
the past five years – 250,000.
Endangered freshwater pearl
mussels successfully hatched in captivity – 70,000.
Hectares of new wildlife habitat
created in England and Wales – 1,200.
Value of maintaining biological
diversity – Priceless.
A new Environment Agency report
detailing ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ –
reveals the conservation and ecology outcomes
for England and Wales since the turn of the century.
In Staffordshire we are contributing
to a project that involves establishing a stock
of locally-grown black poplars to allow replanting
of these trees in Staffordshire. The Staffordshire
Wildlife Trust and Staffordshire County Council
have established nurseries and the cuttings taken
during this project are now growing well. We hope
that strategic replanting of black poplars will
secure a sustainable future for these trees.
"Over the past five years
the Environment Agency has helped to create 1,200
hectares of new habitat in England and Wales –
the equivalent of ten Hyde Parks," said the
Environment Agency’s Head of Conservation and
Ecology, Paul Raven.
"We’ve worked on almost
2,000 wildlife projects helping to save 39 threatened
species – including successfully hatching 70,000
endangered pearl mussels and attracting otters
back to every major city in England."
But equally important is the
Environment Agency’s day to day regulatory work,
which goes largely unseen by the public but is
vital to wildlife conservation.
"Enforcing hundreds of
thousands of environmental licences and permits,
has ensured that the £20 million we’ve put
directly into conservation work, has delivered
truly positive outcomes, particularly for water
and wetland habitats," Dr Raven said.
"For example, the strict
pollution controls imposed in the last 30 years
and regulated by the Environment Agency over the
past 10 years have produced the cleanest waterways
since before the Industrial Revolution, and wildlife
is now really beginning to benefit."
A major review of the past five
years, ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ shows
how the Environment Agency’s efforts to reduce
pollution, manage water resources and minimise
the risk of flooding has helped to protect special
wildlife sites and restore habitats.
"Governments across Europe,
have agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity by
20101," Paul Raven said, "and the improving
state of Britain’s wildlife provides a good indication
of how the Environment Agency’s role as a regulator
of industry, is protecting and improving the environment.’’
With a proven link between environmental
quality and human health and well-being –several
of the wildlife habitat creation projects that
the Environment Agency has been involved with
have focused on urban regeneration. By giving
river corridors a new lease of life in towns and
cities, local people can enjoy improved protection
against flooding with the benefits of more wildlife
and access to a better environment.
"We know that otters are
now found in every major city in the country,
which underlines the benefits of measures to improve
water quality and wildlife habitats overall.
‘’But we can’t be complacent.
There are major challenges ahead for our wildlife
in the face of climate change and the increasing
impact of non-native invasive species.’’
Notes to editors
Key statistics that influence
the Environment Agency’s biodiversity remit:
391 species in the United Kingdom
are under threat.
39 species Biodiversity Actions Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
45 habitats in the United Kingdom are under threat.
5 habitat Biodiversity Action Plans are the lead
responsibility of the Environment Agency.
250,000 Environment Agency licences checked to
protect internationally important wildlife sites
(2000-2005).
100,000 Environment Agency licences control water
pollution.
25,000 Environment Agency licences that control
water abstraction.
11,000 river biology samples taken each year.
7,500 Environment Agency licences that control
waste management.
5,000 hectares of nationally important wildlife
land the Environment Agency owns.
3,000 fish surveys carried out each year.
1,600 Environment Agency licences that control
major industrial works.
Key Environment Agency achievements over the past
five years:
1,200 hectares of new wildlife
habitat created;
almost 2,000 projects to create or improve wildlife
habitat;
£20 million (rising to £70 million
with partners) spent on creating new habitat;
594 partnership projects underway in 2004/05 –
a record for one year.
2,300km of improved river water
quality.
16% of salmon rivers now have
sustainable fish stocks – up from 2%. Salmon and
trout are now returning to many rivers in which
they were virtually extinct including the Tyne
and Wear, the Mersey, the Yorkshire Ouse, the
Trent, Taff and the Tees.
With rivers the cleanest they’ve
been since before the Industrial Revolution, otters
have returned to every major city in England and
increased in numbers in traditional Welsh strongholds.
Started work on raising water
levels to re-wet 11,000 hectares of dried out
wetlands.
Water abstraction limits have
been reduced and management plans imposed on many
valuable wildlife rivers and protected wetlands
– such as the River Darent in Kent, River Derwent
in Yorkshire, River Taw in Devon, River Clywedog
in Wales, and Redgrave and Lopham Fen in East
Anglia.
Almost £1 billion spent
by Water companies – that the Environment Agency
regulate – between 2000-2010 improving 1,700km
of protected rivers and more than 150 nationally
important wetland sites.
2nd edition of the Water Vole
Conservation Handbook providing the latest best-practice
for conservation groups, developers and land managers.
New code for Britain’s most
invasive plant species – Japanese Knotweed.
Successfully breeding endangered
Freshwater Pearl Mussels (BAP species) in captivity
for future translocation into the wild.
Funded a network of 500 nesting
boxes for barn owls, with nearly 1,200 chicks
successfully reared.
Part-funded first national water shrew survey.
Relocated very rare Vendace
fish from 2 lakes in Cumbria to a lake in Scotland
where they had gone extinct due to pollution.
Key Environment Agency goals
over the next five years:
Completing work on raising water
levels to re-wet 11,000 hectares of dried out
wetland habitat in England and Wales by 2010.
Create at least 1000 hectares
of new wetlands (Already in 2006 we’ve created
three new wetlands by breaching manmade tidal
defences – augmenting the threat of sea-level
rise by re-creating natural coastal protection,
including: Alkborough Flats, Lincolnshire – 440
ha; Alnmouth, Northumberland – 9 ha; Wallasea,
Essex – 115 ha; and Sladesbridge, Cornwall –15
ha; Rye Harbour farm, East Sussex – 117-hectare).
Championing the value of maintaining
and restoring wetland and coastal habitat to offset
the effects of climate change (i.e. increased
flooding and storm intensity/proliferation), when
new developments are proposed.
Improving 500km of riverbank
habitat.
Reduction of diffuse pollution – including soil,
manure, pesticides and fertilisers washing into
rivers, lakes and estuaries from farms, buildings
and roads.
Programme of water company work
that will tackle water abstraction problems in
rivers and wetlands.
Maintaining biodiversity in
Leicestershire
Holly Smith - 15-Dec-2006 -
Licence checks that protect internationally important
wildlife sites during the past five years – 250,000.
Endangered freshwater pearl
mussels successfully hatched in captivity – 70,000.
Hectares of new wildlife habitat
created in England and Wales – 1,200.
Value of maintaining biological
diversity – Priceless.
A new Environment Agency report
detailing ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ –
reveals the conservation and ecology outcomes
for England and Wales since the turn of the century.
In Leicestershire we have worked
on two projects which have helped to contribute
towards a diverse habits for wildlife.
At Cossington Meadows we have
contributed to a partnership project with Leicestershire
and Rutland Wildlife Trust to create 0.6 hectares
of developing reedbed in an otherwise deep featureless
gravel pit lake. Cossington Meadows is a 76-hectare
area of partially restored gravel pits and floodplain
grassland alongside the River Soar, just north
of Leicester. It is an important floodplain wetland,
actively managed for wildlife.
The new reedbed should provide
excellent hunting and resting habitat for Otters
as well as wetland birds. Wetland birds such as
water rail, reed bunting and sedge warbler have
already been recorded at Cossington Meadows.
At Watermead Country Park we
have helped to fund creation of new reedbeds,
an otter holt and a kingfisher wall. We have worked
in partnership with local wildlife trusts and
councils to improve flooded gravel pits and extend
a range of habitats including open water, wet
woodland, reedbed and grassland.
"Over the past five years
the Environment Agency has helped to create 1,200
hectares of new habitat in England and Wales –
the equivalent of ten Hyde Parks," said the
Environment Agency’s Head of Conservation and
Ecology, Paul Raven.
"We’ve worked on almost
2,000 wildlife projects helping to save 39 threatened
species – including successfully hatching 70,000
endangered pearl mussels and attracting otters
back to every major city in England."
But equally important is the
Environment Agency’s day to day regulatory work,
which goes largely unseen by the public but is
vital to wildlife conservation.
"Enforcing hundreds of
thousands of environmental licences and permits,
has ensured that the £20 million we’ve put
directly into conservation work, has delivered
truly positive outcomes, particularly for water
and wetland habitats," Dr Raven said.
"For example, the strict
pollution controls imposed in the last 30 years
and regulated by the Environment Agency over the
past 10 years have produced the cleanest waterways
since before the Industrial Revolution, and wildlife
is now really beginning to benefit."
A major review of the past five
years, ‘How our work helps biodiversity’ shows
how the Environment Agency’s efforts to reduce
pollution, manage water resources and minimise
the risk of flooding has helped to protect special
wildlife sites and restore habitats.
"Governments across Europe,
have agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity by
20101," Paul Raven said, "and the improving
state of Britain’s wildlife provides a good indication
of how the Environment Agency’s role as a regulator
of industry, is protecting and improving the environment.’’
With a proven link between environmental
quality and human health and well-being –several
of the wildlife habitat creation projects that
the Environment Agency has been involved with
have focused on urban regeneration. By giving
river corridors a new lease of life in towns and
cities, local people can enjoy improved protection
against flooding with the benefits of more wildlife
and access to a better environment.
"We know that otters are
now found in every major city in the country,
which underlines the benefits of measures to improve
water quality and wildlife habitats overall.
‘’But we can’t be complacent.
There are major challenges ahead for our wildlife
in the face of climate change and the increasing
impact of non-native invasive species.’’
Notes to editors
Key statistics that influence
the Environment Agency’s biodiversity remit:
391 species in the United Kingdom
are under threat.
39 species Biodiversity Actions Plans are the
lead responsibility of the Environment Agency.
45 habitats in the United Kingdom are under threat.
5 habitat Biodiversity Action Plans are the lead
responsibility of the Environment Agency.
250,000 Environment Agency licences checked to
protect internationally important wildlife sites
(2000-2005).
100,000 Environment Agency licences control water
pollution.
25,000 Environment Agency licences that control
water abstraction.
11,000 river biology samples taken each year.
7,500 Environment Agency licences that control
waste management.
5,000 hectares of nationally important wildlife
land the Environment Agency owns.
3,000 fish surveys carried out each year.
1,600 Environment Agency licences that control
major industrial works.
Key Environment Agency achievements over the past
five years:
1,200 hectares of new wildlife
habitat created;
almost 2,000 projects to create or improve wildlife
habitat;
£20 million (rising to £70 million
with partners) spent on creating new habitat;
594 partnership projects underway in 2004/05 –
a record for one year.
2,300km of improved river water quality.
16% of salmon rivers now have
sustainable fish stocks – up from 2%. Salmon and
trout are now returning to many rivers in which
they were virtually extinct including the Tyne
and Wear, the Mersey, the Yorkshire Ouse, the
Trent, Taff and the Tees.
With rivers the cleanest they’ve
been since before the Industrial Revolution, otters
have returned to every major city in England and
increased in numbers in traditional Welsh strongholds.
Started work on raising water
levels to re-wet 11,000 hectares of dried out
wetlands.
Water abstraction limits have
been reduced and management plans imposed on many
valuable wildlife rivers and protected wetlands
– such as the River Darent in Kent, River Derwent
in Yorkshire, River Taw in Devon, River Clywedog
in Wales, and Redgrave and Lopham Fen in East
Anglia.
Almost £1 billion spent
by Water companies – that the Environment Agency
regulate – between 2000-2010 improving 1,700km
of protected rivers and more than 150 nationally
important wetland sites.
2nd edition of the Water Vole
Conservation Handbook providing the latest best-practice
for conservation groups, developers and land managers.
New code for Britain’s most
invasive plant species – Japanese Knotweed.
Successfully breeding endangered
Freshwater Pearl Mussels (BAP species) in captivity
for future translocation into the wild.
Funded a network of 500 nesting
boxes for barn owls, with nearly 1,200 chicks
successfully reared.
Part-funded first national water shrew survey.
Relocated very rare Vendace
fish from 2 lakes in Cumbria to a lake in Scotland
where they had gone extinct due to pollution.
Key Environment Agency goals
over the next five years:
Completing work on raising water levels to re-wet
11,000 hectares of dried out wetland habitat in
England and Wales by 2010.
Create at least 1000 hectares
of new wetlands (Already in 2006 we’ve created
three new wetlands by breaching manmade tidal
defences – augmenting the threat of sea-level
rise by re-creating natural coastal protection,
including: Alkborough Flats, Lincolnshire – 440
ha; Alnmouth, Northumberland – 9 ha; Wallasea,
Essex – 115 ha; and Sladesbridge, Cornwall –15
ha; Rye Harbour farm, East Sussex – 117-hectare).
Championing the value of maintaining
and restoring wetland and coastal habitat to offset
the effects of climate change (i.e. increased
flooding and storm intensity/proliferation), when
new developments are proposed.
Improving 500km of riverbank
habitat.
Reduction of diffuse pollution
– including soil, manure, pesticides and fertilisers
washing into rivers, lakes and estuaries from
farms, buildings and roads.
Programme of water company work
that will tackle water abstraction problems in
rivers and wetlands.
Creation of 100 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflat
annually to account for losses through sea-level
rise.
