Download Opening Statement - Kingston Biodiversity Network

Kingston Biodiversity Action Plan opening statement
A variety of habitats are found within the Borough of Kingston linked together by wildlife corridors
such as railway linesides, rivers and streams. These nature reserves are vital for a range of species,
some of which are endangered, of regional scarcity or classed as ‘local’. In turn these oases benefit
the borough’s human communities, providing places where people can escape the stresses of city
life while maintaining essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration.
Biodiversity as defined by the Convention of Biological Diversity is “the variability among living
organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species
and of ecosystems”. However, this is rather complex definition and in more understandable terms
this means the ‘web of life’.
It is well accepted that high levels of native biodiversity improves the health of ecosystems and
increases their resilience to change, thus, upholding biodiversity will help to ensure that these
spaces, and the services they provide will still be around for future generations. To this end
governments at global, national and local levels have ratified legislation aiming to protect
Biodiversity.
London approved its own Biodiversity Action Plan in 2001, created by the London Biodiversity
Partnership (LBP). In 2004 a Kingston Biodiversity Action Plan was developed by a core partnership
of interested members of the Kingston Community, this plan was produced using the principles of
Working with the Grain of Nature – A Biodiversity Strategy for England (ODPM, 2002) , and the
London Biodiversity Action Plan(LBP,2001). According to the Environment and Neighbourhood
Overview Panel in 2005, the first part of this plan was ratified by the Royal Borough of Kingston
Council in September of 2004, however, since this period there has been little progress regarding the
development of a Kingston Biodiversity Action Plan. This has resulted in the adoption of the Mayors
Biodiversity Strategy, a plan which has certain limitations when addressing specific areas and may
not be deemed appropriate for best practise within the borough.
The Kingston Biodiversity Network, working with multiple environmental organisations and locally
based ecologists now intends to further this process. Consolidating the good work previously
achieved alongside recent surveying, updated legislation and codes of best practise, we in
conjunction with the Kingston Council are developing five habitat action plans and two ecological
statements to complement the Councils work across the borough. These documents are put forward
to be included within the Green Space Strategy 2008-2018. The intention of such documentation is
to:
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Deliver the UK BAP at a local level;
To promote, educate and harness the biodiversity theme in the borough;
To bring about change in practises that is detrimental to the environment and
wildlife.
The five habitats occupying the focus of the Habitat Action Plans have been adopted in consultation
with Kingston Council, and include:
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Open Standing Water
Hedgerows
Meadows (Chalk and Acid)
Running Water
Woodland
The network will also produce two ecological statements regarding Kingston stance towards both
light pollution and biodiversity offsetting.
We at the Kingston Biodiversity Network hope that these plans will contribute to and promote
outstanding conservation practise across the Borough of Kingston, providing a model for other
boroughs across Greater London shaping conservation in urbanised areas, benefiting both the local
wildlife and the human population.