Updates Bulletin Number 2
May 2007
Welcome to the latest update bulletin from the North East Biodiversity Forum.
This bulletin is intended to provide a digest of information relevant to
biodiversity partners and I hope you will find the content useful. Please feel
free to pass on copies to anyone else who think may find it of interest.
Guidance on Biodiversity Duty Due Soon
The new 'Biodiversity Duty' placed on all Public Bodies by Section 40 of the
Natural Resources and Rural Communities Act 2006 came into force on 1st
October. By the end of May it is expected that national guidance will be
published on how public bodies can fulfil the new responsibilities placed on
them.
Public bodies covered by the Duty include local authorities, Government
Agencies, statutory undertakers, schools, the police, health service and
museums. In recognition of the key role local authorities play with regard to
conserving and enhancing biodiversity, there will be 2 sets of guidance:


specific guidance aimed at the needs and requirements of Local
Authorities:
and more generic guidance aimed at all public bodies
The Biodiversity Forum hopes to hold a regional launch event for the
Guidance sometime in July. This will be aimed at raising awareness of the
Duty among public bodies and also promoting the wider benefits that
biodiversity brings to the region. Further details of the launch will follow.
Proposals for a Regional Grazing Cooperative
Lack of appropriate grazing is one of the main management issues affecting
many of our best nature conservation sites and it is becoming increasingly
difficult to find graziers willing to put stock on sites, even in cases where
grazing is being offered for free.
The North East Grazing Project has developed a proposal for a Regional
Grazing Cooperative, which it hopes will address some of these problems and
increase the availability of grazing stock. A draft Business Plan for the co-op
can be downloaded from www.nebiodiversity.org.uk/docs/145.doc
The proposal is that the co-op would be set up as a Community Interest
Company (CIC). A meeting will be held for all interested parties on Monday
21st May 10.00am at the Quadrant in Newcastle when representatives from
the North East Social Enterprise Partnership will go through which CIC will
give the best structure for running the partnership. Anyone is free to attend
this meeting but please inform Stephen Comber (the Regional Grazing
Coordinator) in advance so that he can inform reception staff
Email: Stephen.comber@necf.org.uk
Agri-environment Targeting Workshops
The Biodiversity Forum will be holding two workshops with Natural England to
discuss how agri-environment schemes in the region can be better targeted to
deliver biodiversity gains. On June 22nd there will be a workshop to discuss
targeting for birds while on 4th June there will be a workshop looking at other
species interests. Both workshops will last half a day and be held at
Government Office North East in Newcastle. If you would like to attend either
workshop then please contact Nick Brodin on 0191 202 3726
Training for Planners
Due to demand, the Biodiversity Forum will events will be holding a repeat of
the training event PPS9, Planning and Biodiversity gain on 17th May 2007.
This is an all day event that is free to attend. Lunch is provided. The day is
aimed at land use planners, planning policy officers and those with a role in
advising local authority planners on nature conservation matters (such as
local authority ecologists). Places are limited and booking is essential. A
booking form can be downloaded from the events section of the North East
Biodiversity Forum website.
We hope to repeat such training events on at least an annual basis.
Nature-based Tourism Workshop
There will be a half-day workshop on nature-based tourism on 9th July at the
Natural England offices in Newcastle. The workshop will be an opportunity for
Biodiversity Forum members to meet with and take advice from
representatives from One NorthEast's Tourism team. If you would like more
information about this event then please contact Nick Brodin on 0191 202
3726
SITA Enriching Nature Fund
At the last Board meeting of SITA Trust, Enriching Nature funding was
awarded to four projects within the North East: Restoring Pontburn Woods
(Woodland Trust); River Derwent Grass Snakes (GNF on behalf of the
Durham Biodiversity Partnership); Charley Local Nature Reserve (North East
Community Forests); and Fenton Floodplains (Tweed Forum).
The regional allocation for 'large project pot' for Enriching Nature is now
completely spent up until new funds become available in October 2007.
However the regional allocation for small projects - those requiring funding of
£25,000 or less - still contains around £120,000.
SITA have recently updated their Guidance Notes for applicants. These can
be downloaded from the SITA Trust website.
Public Consultations
Two current public consultations may be of interest to Biodiversity Forum
members:
Public consultation on the Invasive Non-native Species Framework Strategy
for Great Britain
Defra, the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government launched a
public consultation on The Invasive Non-native Species Framework Strategy
for GB The closing date for responses on this is 23rd May.
Consultation on the Marine Bill White Paper
The White Paper contains proposals on five key issues: planning in the
marine area; licensing activities in the marine area; marine nature
conservation; modernising marine fisheries management; and a new marine
management organisation. The closing date for comments is 8th June.
For more details, and to download a copy of the White Paper, see the Defra
website. The Biodiversity Forum's Marine and Coastal Group will be making a
response to the consultation.
Local BAP News
The North Tyneside Biodiversity Action Plan has now been published and can
be downloaded from www.northtyneside.gov.uk/environment/biodiversity.htm
Copies are also available on CD-Rom. If you would like a CD-Rom copy then
please contact Jackie Hunter at North Tyneside Council
jackie.hunter@northtyneside.gov.uk (telephone 0191 219 2388)
The Northumberland Biodiversity Action Plan is having a launch event on 22
May. For more information contact Elaine Jaggs
elaine.jaggs@northwt.org.uk(telephone 0191 284 6884)
Exploring your Environment (EYE) Project
The EYE Project website is now up and running and can be accessed at
www.eyeproject.org.uk
The EYE Project has been working with the Local BAP Coordinators in the
North East to produce the Northumbrian Water Wildflowers on Your Doorstep
survey. This is a region-wide public participation survey aimed at gathering
records of twelve species of wildflowers which are indicators of better quality
grassland. The survey will be launched in June.
Interreg IV
Interreg programmes are a European Community initiative to stimulate
transnational cooperation and strengthen economic and social cohesion
throughout the EU. The European Commission has identified four main
themes for transnational cooperation in the 2007-2013 structural funds
programme, one of which is 'environment'. The programmes are divided into
different geographical strands and the North East is eligible for transnational
funding within both the North Sea and North West Europe programmes.
A number of projects ideas have been posted on the websites for the two
programmes in the hope of attracting potential interested partners. These can
be viewed at www.interregnorthsea.org/Ideas.asp and
www.nweurope.org/page/onglet.php?p=1755 respectively.
North East Biodiversity Forum News
The North East Biodiversity has recently produced a revised Terms of
Reference. These can be viewed on the 'About Us' section of the Forum's
website or by following the link www.nebiodiversity.org.uk/docs/146.doc
The Terms of Reference set out what the Biodiversity Forum is and how it
operates. Membership of the Forum is open to any organization, partnership
or company that supports the aim of the North East Biodiversity Forum and
can contribute to its achievement. If you are not a member of the North East
Biodiversity Forum and would like to join then please contact
info@nebiodiversity.org.uk
The Biodiversity Forum contains a number of smaller sub-groups, details of
which are given below:
Regional Biodiversity Group
The Regional Biodiversity Group is a small sub-set of Biodiversity Forum
members who steer the work of the Forum, and make formal consultation
responses on the Forum's behalf. The membership is intended to represent
the full range of the Forum's interests. Membership is kept under constant
review and if you have any questions or comments about the Group and its
work then please contact info@nebiodiversity.org.uk
Two free seats are being made available, on a revolving basis, at each
meeting of the Regional Group for any Biodiversity Forum members who wish
to come along to observe or take part. If you are interested in occupying one
of these places then please contact the Forum. A reminder will be sent out
prior to each meeting. The Agenda for each meeting can be found on the
members' section of the North East Biodiversity Forum website. The next
meeting of the Group is on 19th June. Among the agenda items will be a
discussion about biodiversity data management and progress towards
achieving a regional environmental records centre. Minutes and papers from
all Regional Biodiversity Group meetings can be viewed on the Biodiversity
Forum website.
Marine and Coastal Group
The Forum's marine and coastal group meets quarterly and is open to any
organisation with an interest in marine and coastal work. The Terms of
Reference for the group can be downloaded at
http://www.nebiodiversity.org.uk/docs/149.doc. If you would like to join the
group then please contact the group's Chair, Niall Benson Email:
niall.benson@durham.gov.uk
Among the activity that the group is currently engaged in is the drafting of a
regional marine and coastal action plan and the development of a project
called 'Big Sea Survey', which will engage local communities in the collection
of biodiversity data.
Targets and Data Group
The Forum's Targets and Data group was set up to take ownership of the
regional biodiversity indicators and targets and to maintain an overview of
data issues in the North East. The notes of the latest meeting of the group
are available to download by following this link to the Biodiversity Forum
website. Among the activities that the group will be undertaking in the next
year is a 'refresh' of the regional biodiversity targets and the publication of a
report on progress with the regional biodiversity indicators. Membership of
the group is open to any interested organisations. If you would like to join the
group then please contact Nick Brodin.
New information on the North East Biodiversity website
The Funding section of the website includes new information about Biffaward,
and has added links to the Garfield Weston Foundation, Bromley Foundation
and Naturesave Trust.
Also the following have been added to the links page of the website:
Naturenet
Independent countryside and nature conservation site with excellent
summaries of current countryside legislation
Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW)
A multi-agency body comprising representatives of all the organisations
involved in wildlife law enforcement in the UK. Pages include downloadable
contact list for local Police Wildlife Crime Officers
Green Infrastructure Planning Guide
The aim of this Planning Guide is to provide a method by which those
interested and involved in pushing forward the development of green
infrastructure planning on the ground might develop their own green
infrastructure plans.
The following consultation responses, made by the Regional Biodiversity
Group on behalf of the Biodiversity Forum, can be viewed on the website:
Draft North East Strategy for the Environment
Regional Economic Strategy Action Plan (January 2007)
Defra Consultation on Statutory Guidance for Natural England on Regional Planning
and Associated Matters
Update on Regional Strategies
The final Action Plan for the Regional Economic Strategy will be launched by
One NorthEast on 18th May.
The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) is currently with the Secretary of State
who is making changes recommended by last year's Enquiring in Public. An
eight-week consultation on these changes is expected within the next few
months.
The consultation period for the draft North East Strategy for the Environment
(NESE) has now ended. The North East Environment Forum is currently
examining the responses made.
Nick Brodin (nick.brodin@nebiodiversity.org.uk)
Regional Biodiversity Coordinator
8 May 2007