Biodiversity Legislation
The Action Plan for the Northumberland Biodiversity Partnership Steering Group sets out a target to…
create and maintain an up to date reference for biodiversity related legislation by 2008.
This document will highlight those pieces of legislation that concern biodiversity and provide a short summary of the measures organisations should carry out in order to meet the requirements.
The biodiversity legislation summaries will be available to download from this webpage once the project is complete in 2008.
NERC Duty
Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006, identifies that all local and public authorities now have a duty to conserve biodiversity as part of their everyday activities and procedures.
To conserve biodiversity is not just to protect, but to also actively seek opportunities to restore and enhance wildlife.
Local and public authorities that the 'Biodiversity Duty' applies to include:
- Local councils
- Prison service
- Ministry of Defence
- Environment Agency
- Forestry Commission
- Natural England
- Water companies
- Fire service
- Highways Agency
- Police
- Schools
Northumberland's Biodiversity Action Plan identifies the most threatened habitats and species in the county. Organisations and individuals can fulfill part of their biodiversity duty by helping to deliver some of the targets and actions identified in this plan.
NERC Duty Guidance
In May 2007 Defra published two sets of guidance on implementing the biodiversity
duty. One set of guidance is generic for all public authorities,
while the other is aimed specifically at local authorities. Both guidance
documents look at how organisations can incorporate biodiversity conservation
into all of their functions. Copies of both documents are available to download
from this page.
Make staff in your organisation aware of the biodiversity duty
The Northumberland Biodiversity Partnership has produced a simple leaflet that can be emailed to colleagues to make them aware of the biodiversity duty and to identify ways in which they can help to conserve Northumberland's wildlife. Download the leaflet from this page or contact Northumberland’s biodiversity coordinator for printed copies.
