Habitat Biodiversity Audit for Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull
Introduction
The Habitat Biodiversity Audit (HBA) was established in October 1995 through a funding partnership of all the local authorities in the area, English Nature, the Environment Agency and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, who act as project managers. The project is housed at the Warwickshire Museum Field Services within Warwickshire County Council and makes use of the Authority’s geographic information system (GIS).
The role of the project has evolved with time but basically runs along a central theme of providing accurate, up-to-date and readily accessible ecological data to all the project partners. This can be summarised in a number of stages that are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive.
Stage 1: Undertake a detailed Phase 1 survey of the study area and transfer all data onto GIS
Stage 2 Establish the Wildlife Sites Project and to identify potential Wildlife Sites/Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC). Undertake detailed habitat assessments and transfer boundaries onto GIS (update GIS where necessary)
Stage 3 Provide basis for local biodiversity action plan (i.e. the extent of broad and priority habitat types within study area) and a mechanism for setting targets as well as the means to monitor implementation.
Stage 4 Develop local community access to data sets (through community-based projects, library services, Internet etc.)
Stage 5 Monitor habitat and land use change. Introduce hedgerow survey and photographic assessment of particular features (veteran trees, reserves, wildlife sites etc.)
Stage 1
The habitat survey for the whole of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull was completed in October 1999. All the data had been transferred onto GIS by September 2000. A lengthy process of check, correcting and updating the data has been achieved and compact disks of the data have been made available to all the partners in a format compatible with their own GIS set-up.
This stage has culminated in the classification of every land parcel within the sub-region and this represents a total area of over 2,250 square kilometres. Every habitat feature has been described in some detail with almost 13,000 habitat descriptions and includes approximately a quarter of a million species records.
With all this information on GIS it is now possible to accurately measure the extent of any habitat type within any given area. This then provides a very useful tool in determining the habitats that are well represented and those that are severely threatened. The data has already been used to provide information for the WCC Quality of Life report, Warwick District Council Statement of the Environment Report, Coventry City Sustainability Report and is being used to provide a detailed assessment of Rugby Borough.
Stage 2
The Wildlife Sites Project was established at the end of 1999.
An initial assessment of areas considered to be of value for wildlife has been completed in the form of an alert map showing areas of potential interest. This map is primarily an aid to the local authority planners and those involved in planning issues to identify if any development is likely to impact upon a site of potential value.
A site by site assessment is being undertaken to determine if potential sites meet the Wildlife Site/SINC criteria. This work has been mainly focused in the Solihull and Nuneaton and Bedworth areas although during 2001 progress was hindered by the foot and mouth outbreak. It is unlikely that the work will have been completed before 2007/2008 - although the possibility of future funding may allow for an increase in staffing.
Stage 3
Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull are the only areas without a Local Biodiversity Action plan (LBAP) in the West Midlands. However, it is proposed to employ a Project Co-ordinator in early 2002 to take this process forward. Additional resources are being sought to allow the Biodiversity Steering Group to maintain that post in the future.
The HBA has made a commitment to support the Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull LBAP
with the provision of detailed habitat data and to map all priority habitats within the sub-region onto GIS. It is intended that by providing accurate measurements of specific priority habitats we will be able to set realistic targets and determine how successful the process is being.
Stage 4
The HBA is hopeful that a Community Officer will be appointed in the not too distant future but as yet the project does not have the necessary resources to further than work. If interest can be generated we are intending to provide school packs to cover aspects of Key Stages 2 and 3 in Science and Geography. It is proposed that packs make use of HBA data to provide information about habitats, plants and animals within a radii of individual schools.
The packs, which will be combined with other data such as aerial photographs, images of habitats, plants and animals, statistical summaries of habitats within given areas and will be provided on compact disk. It is hoped that the packs will be more capable of covering issues such as an appreciation of maps and map reading, sources of data and providing information, conservation and ecology, analysis and Information Technology. It is envisaged that the packs will encourage schools to make use of such information to show how important the ‘local’ environment is (possibly including a site visit) before going on to look at more global issues.
Stage 5
A pilot study was initiated in 2001 to look at the best way of determining habitat change and for increasing the amount of information held by the HBA. The Wildlife Sites Project has contributed some information through the work it has been involved in but foot and mouth has limited the amount of work that we could achieve. It is intended to extend the trial into 2002 and to seek additional funding to take the work forward.
Future Considerations
The use of species data provided by the HBA could allow the Audit to produce the an electronic county flora available through the Internet. Issues such as the condition of our remaining farmland ponds, the value of clay pits, stone quarries and gravel extraction areas for nature conservation and the loss of species rich grassland has been highlighted by the HBA an it is hoped that projects will be established in the future that help deal with these matters.
HBA GIS Officer
Jo Thomas - 01926 412197
Email: joannethomaspt@warwickshire.gov.uk
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
Director of Conservation
Beth Gardner - 024 7630 8976
Warwickshire County Ecologists
Dave Lowe and Anna Swift - 01926 418060
Wildlife Sites Project Surveyor
Dave Cole - 01926 4121297
The leaflet: Action for Wildlife in Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull is available from Warwickshire Museum and the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. |