Gloucestershire Biodiversity

A biodiversity vision for Gloucestershire

A landscape rich in wildlife, where wild species and habitats are part of healthy, functioning ecosystems that are well-managed and valued by everyone. The conservation of biodiversity is a natural consideration of policies and decisions and is integrated with social, cultural and economic activities.

Gloucestershire is a highly diverse county, ranging from the Wye Valley with its ancient ravine woodlands in the west, to the streams of the Cotswold plateau in the east. In between there is a wealth of wildlife habitats .... acid grassland, heaths, limestone pavements and oak woodland in the Forest of Dean. The Severn Vale and its floodplain which is so important for birdlife, especially wintering wildfowl and breeding waders; the Cotswold escarpment with acres of unspoilt limestone grassland and beech woodland, and the Cotswold Water Park, of more recent origin but still supporting birds, plants and insects of enormous variety.


New England Biodiversity Strategy Biodiversity 2020, published in August 2011, outlines how England will meet internationally agreed targets made at the UN Biodiversity summit in Nagoya last year - to reduce the loss of species and habitats by 2020. The Strategy includes a commitment to "to halt overall biodiversity loss, support healthy well-functioning ecosysytems and establish coherent ecological networks, with more and better places for nature for the benefit of wildlife and people." Natural England said; "the Strategy's success will depend on the co-ordinated efforts of partnerships involving statutory, voluntary, academic, business sectors and the public. These are to be supported by Local Nature Partnerships."

The UN Decade aims to make a contribution
to achieving the revised and updated global
biodiversity targets.

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Gloucestershire LNP
A proposal for the establishment of a Local Nature Partnership (LNP) in Gloucestershire was submitted to Defra. In July 2012 the government formally recognised the Gloucestershire LNP. To find out more see the Partnership pages.

County Biodiversity Delivery Plan
A new spatial Biodiversity Delivery Plan is launched The new framework builds on the work of the former Gloucestershire Biodiversity Action Plan through adopting an ecosystem approach to delivery and by embedding climate change adaptation principles into conservation action. Delivery will be achieved through the implementation of a landscape-scale conservation programme. Find out more ...... visit The Plan pages and view the Strategic Nature Areas of the Gloucestershire Nature Map.

Photograph Copyright
All photographs on this website are Copyright © Gloucestershire County Council or their individual owner unless otherwise stated. Further information about a particular image or photograph maybe obtained by contacting us.

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