Selby Area Internal Drainage Board Selby Area IDB Biodiversity Action Plan November 2009 FINAL REPORT
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Selby Area Internal Drainage Board Selby Area IDB Biodiversity Action Plan November 2009 FINAL REPORT JBA Consulting Selby Area Denison House Internal Drainage Board Hexthorpe Road 12 Park Street DONCASTER SELBY South Yorkshire North Yorkshire DN4 0BF YO8 4PW UK t: +44 (0)1302 342 055 f: +44 (0)1302 329 887 www.jbaconsulting.co.uk Selby Area Internal Drainage Board Biodiversity Action Plan Final Report REVISION HISTORY Revision Ref./ Amendments Issued to Date Issued Draft Report Selby Area IDB September 2009 Revised Amended after comments from November 2009 Clerk and Finance Committee Revised Amended after comments from February 2010 Board CONTRACT This report describes work commissioned by the Selby Area Internal Drainage Board to produce a Biodiversity Audit and Action Plan for the drainage district. Richard Barnard, Kieran Sheehan, Rachael Brady, Laura Hicks, Jon Whitmore and Christopher Toop of JBA Consulting carried out the work. Prepared by: ................................................... Rachael Brady BSc MSc MIEEM Senior Ecologist Reviewed by: ...pp............................................ Kieran Sheehan BSc MSc PGCE MIEEM MIfL Senior Ecologist DISCLAIMER This document has been prepared solely as a Biodiversity Audit and Action Plan for the Selby Area Internal Drainage Board. JBA Consulting accepts no responsibility or liability for any use that is made of this document other than by the Client for the purposes for which it was originally commissioned and prepared. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS JBA would like to acknowledge Mark Wills of the North and East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre in York for supplying much of the habitat and species data on which the distribution maps in this report are based. JBA Consulting www.jbaconsulting.co.uk N:\2008\Projects\2008s3733 - Shire Group - Went - Aire - Selby IDBs Biodiversity Action Planning\Reports\Selby Area IDB BAP\Selby Area IDB BAP FINAL.docx: 26/03/2010 i Selby Area Internal Drainage Board Biodiversity Action Plan Final Report PURPOSE This Biodiversity Action Plan has been prepared by the Selby Area Internal Drainage Board in accordance with the commitment in the Implementation Plan of the DEFRA Internal Drainage Board Review for Internal Drainage Boards to produce their own Biodiversity Action Plans by April, 2010. It also demonstrates the Board‟s commitment to fulfilling its duty as a public body under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 to conserve biodiversity. Many of the Board‟s activities have benefits for biodiversity, not least its water level management and ditch maintenance work. It is hoped that this Biodiversity Action Plan will help the Board to maximise the biodiversity benefits from its activities and demonstrate its contribution to the Government‟s UK Biodiversity Action Plan targets. The Board has adopted the Biodiversity Action Plan as one of its policies and is committed to its implementation. It will review the plan periodically and update it as appropriate. 1.1.1 Signed copy held at address below 1.1.2 ……………………………………………………. Date ………………………………. Mr J Dennis 1.1.3 Chairman of the Board CONTACT DETAILS This Biodiversity Action Plan is a public statement by the Board of its biodiversity objectives and the methods by which it intends to achieve them. We would welcome appropriate involvement in the delivery of the Plan from interested organisations, companies and individuals. You can contact us about this Biodiversity Action Plan by writing to the following addresses: Selby Area Internal Drainage Board Selby Area Internal Drainage Board 12 Park Street Denison House SELBY Hexthorpe Road North Yorkshire DONCASTER YO8 4PN South Yorkshire DN4 0BF Or by emailing: Biodiversity & Conservation Officer Rachael Brady ([email protected]) Clerk to the Board Nigel Everard ([email protected]) Further information is available on the Board‟s website: www.shiregroup-idbs.gov.uk JBA Consulting www.jbaconsulting.co.uk N:\2008\Projects\2008s3733 - Shire Group - Went - Aire - Selby IDBs Biodiversity Action Planning\Reports\Selby Area IDB BAP\Selby Area IDB BAP FINAL.docx: 26/03/2010 ii Selby Area Internal Drainage Board Biodiversity Action Plan Final Report CONTENTS Page REVISION HISTORY i CONTRACT i DISCLAIMER i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i PURPOSE ii CONTACT DETAILS ii CONTENTS iii 1 IDB BIODIVERSITY – AN INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 What is Biodiversity? ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 The Importance of Conserving Biodiversity ................................................................................... 2 1.4 The Biodiversity Action Planning Framework ................................................................................ 2 1.5 Internal Drainage Boards and Biodiversity ..................................................................................... 3 1.6 The Aims of the Selby Area IDB Biodiversity Action Plan.............................................................. 3 2 THE IDB BAP PROCESS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 2.1 The Biodiversity Audit .................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Evaluating and Prioritising Habitats and Species .......................................................................... 5 2.3 Setting Objectives, Targets and Indicators .................................................................................... 5 2.4 Implementation ............................................................................................................................... 5 2.5 Monitoring ....................................................................................................................................... 5 2.6 Reporting and Reviewing ............................................................................................................... 5 3 THE BIODIVERSITY AUDIT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Local Biodiversity Action Plans ...................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Biodiversity Audit Boundary ........................................................................................................... 7 3.4 Sources of Data – Habitats ............................................................................................................ 7 3.5 Sources of Data - Species ............................................................................................................. 7 4 NATURE CONSERVATION SITES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 4.1 The Drainage District ..................................................................................................................... 9 4.2 Geology .......................................................................................................................................... 9 4.3 Landscape ...................................................................................................................................... 9 4.4 Statutory Nature Conservation Sites .............................................................................................. 9 4.5 Non-statutory Nature Conservation Sites .................................................................................... 10 5 HABITAT AUDIT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 13 5.2 Habitat Audit Summary ................................................................................................................ 13 5.3 Habitats of Importance for the IDB ............................................................................................... 14 6 SPECIES AUDIT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 19 6.2 Species Audit Summary ............................................................................................................... 19 6.3 Species of Importance for the IDB ............................................................................................... 22 7 HABITAT AND SPECIES ACTION PLANS ----------------------------------------------------------------- 27 7.1 Habitat and Species Action Plans ................................................................................................ 27 7.2 Action Plans for the Selby Area IDB ............................................................................................ 27 8 HABITAT ACTION PLAN – ARABLE FIELD MARGINS ------------------------------------------------ 29 8.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................