Nature for People A Biodiversity Action Plan for Enfield Adopted September 2011 www.enfield.gov.uk Foreword Enfield is one of London’s greenest boroughs. With Partnership, Natural England and the Environment the Lee Valley Regional Park, private gardens and 123 Agency to get the action plan up and running, and are parks and public open spaces, 37 allotment sites, more already getting to work on some of the objectives. than 300 hectares of woodland and 100 kilometres of We need to do all we can to protect and enhance rivers and streams, we have a wealth of biodiversity Enfield’s rich wildlife heritage for everyone to enjoy, both right here on our doorstep. now and in the future. Enfield is home to some important populations of nationally and internationally scarce plant and animal species like the great crested newt, and the black redstart (a robin-sized bird) which has been spotted in the east of the borough, and some nationally scarce habitats such as our acid grassland. The Biodiversity Action Plan is about more than protecting our wildlife - conserving and enhancing biodiversity contributes to our health and wellbeing and our economic prosperity, ensuring that we are well placed to adapt to the threat of climate change. Providing quality and biodiverse green spaces for people to enjoy their free time improves the quality of Councillor Del Goddard life for everyone who lives here. Cabinet Member for Regeneration Maintaining and enhancing the borough’s biodiversity and Improving Localities is a task for us all. The Council has a community leadership role and responsibility to conserve, protect and enhance our natural habitats. The Biodiversity Action Plan sets out our commitment to action, making sure that we integrate biodiversity conservation into our activities, plans, policies and programmes. We hope that the Biodiversity Action Plan will raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and will attract interest from members of the public and Councillor Chris Bond wildlife enthusiasts as well as technical experts. We Cabinet Member for Environment, have been working in partnership with wildlife groups Street Scene and Parks and organisations such as The London Biodiversity Contents 1. Biodiversity 4 Grants and funding for Biodiversity Management and Enhancements 19 What is biodiversity? 4 Green Flag Sites 21 Why is biodiversity important? 4 Trees and the Urban Forest 21 What is a Biodiversity Action Plan? 4 Roads and Highways 22 Why do we need a Biodiversity Action Plan in Enfield? 4 New Development 22 Developer contributions 22 2. Background 6 Policies and plans 23 The Rio Convention 6 The Value Xof Nature 23 The 2001 European Union Summit in Gothenburg 6 Legislation 23 The UK Biodiversity Action Plan 6 Green infrastructure 24 The London Biodiversity Action Plan 7 Climate change 25 The Enfield Biodiversity Action Plan 7 Place Shaping 26 The International Year of Biodiversity 7 Access to Nature 26 The 2010 Nagoya Summit 7 Strategic Growth Areas 26 Place Shaping Priority Areas 27 3. Biodiversity in Enfield 8 The Area around Enfield Town Station 27 Habitats 8 Edmonton 27 Species 9 Meridian Water 27 4. The Enfield Biodiversity Action Plan 10 New Southgate 28 How will the Enfield Biodiversity Action Plan be structured? 10 Ponders End 28 Aims and objectives 10 People and Wildlife 29 Further Education 29 The Enfield Biodiversity Action Plan Partnership 11 Partnership Working 30 Cross-cutting Themes and Generic Actions 11 Invasive species 30 Habitats Action Plans 12 Neighbouring Authorities 30 Species and Species-groups Action Plans 14 Ecological Records 30 Action Plan Structure and Delivery 14 Annual Review and Reporting 14 6. Cross-cutting Theme Actions 33 Appendix 1 – UK and London BAP priority species recorded 5. Cross-Cutting Themes 16 in Enfield between 1999 and 2009 36 The Landscape Scale or Ecosystem approach 16 Appendix 2 – List of organisations involved in the Enfield BAP 41 Management of parks and open spaces 16 partnership to date Local Wildlife Sites 16 Appendix 3 – Glossary of terms 42 London Habitat Targets 19 4 NatureNature for for People: People: A A Biodiversity Biodiversity Action Action Plan Plan for for Enfield Enfield 1. Biodiversity What is biodiversity? What is a Biodiversity Action Plan? Biodiversity is the variety of life and its processes; A Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is a framework for including the variety of living organisms, the genetic conserving and enhancing biodiversity and sets the differences amongst them, and the communities and targets and actions to achieve this. ecosystems in which they occur. An ecosystem is a There are a range of levels of BAP: country-wide (e.g. community of plants, animals and microorganisms, the UK Biodiversity Action Plan), regional (e.g. The along with their environment, that function together as a London BAP), local (e.g. The Enfield BAP), or site unit (an ecosystem can be as large as a rain forest or as (e.g. a Nature Reserve BAP). A BAP often consists of small as a rotting log). Habitat and Species Action Plans. Why is biodiversity important? Why do we need a Biodiversity Action Biodiversity is important in its own right and is an Plan in Enfield? indicator of the wider health of the environment. Biodiversity is under threat; globally species are declining Biodiversity is good for people’s quality of life. at an alarming rate and the extent and quality of the A diverse and healthy environment improves quality of ecosystems that supports them is diminishing. If this life and provides recreational and educational resources continues it will have serious consequences for mankind, for all sectors of the community. especially in the face of climate change, as we all rely Biodiversity provides natural services (sometimes on biodiversity for our survival. Actions happen at a local referred to as ecosystem services). These are level and a BAP provides a framework to ensure that ‘components of nature, directly enjoyed, consumed, actions are coordinated and targeted towards the areas or used to yield human well-being’, and are key to our most likely to achieve biodiversity gains. survival, providing amongst other things, food, clean In Enfield we are fortunate to have a wealth of green air and water. spaces and important habitats and species, both in Biodiversity will help us adapt to climate change; as the our urban and more rural areas. However without climate changes healthy ecosystems and the services management, this biodiversity will diminish. This will they provide will be increasingly valuable (but at the same have a negative impact on the environmental quality of the borough and the wellbeing of the people who time biodiversity will be threatened by an increasingly Amphibian survey – Forty Hall unpredictable climate). live here. The Enfield BAP is an important source of information for key stakeholders and decision makers including land managers, developers, planners and others. Nature for People: A Biodiversity Action Plan for Enfield 5 Oak Canopy. Enfield Town 6 Nature for People: A Biodiversity Action Plan for Enfield 2. Background The Rio Convention The 2001 European Union Summit The UK Biodiversity Action Plan In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in Gothenburg The UK Biodiversity Action Plan, first published in 1994, the UK, along with 168 other countries made a At the 2001 European Union Summit in Gothenburg, was the UK Government’s response to signing the formal commitment to work together to protect the European leaders made a commitment to halt Convention on Biological Diversity. environment. Amongst other treaties the Convention biodiversity loss by 2010. This led to the formation The plan set out a programme for conserving the UK’s on Biological Diversity was signed, this had three main of the Countdown 2010 partnership an international biodiversity and led to the production of 436 action goals: the conservation of biodiversity; the sustainable coalition of partners committed to efforts to tackle the plans for many of the UK’s most threatened species use of its components; and the equitable sharing of causes of biodiversity loss. and habitats. The UK BAP priority list was reviewed in benefits arising from genetic resources. Unfortunately the 2010 target was not met and 2007 and includes 1,150 species and 65 habitats that It recognised for the first time in international law that biodiversity loss continues at an alarming rate. In are a priority for conservation actions. the conservation of biological diversity is ‘a common March 2010 the EU made a new commitment to Each of the UK’s Four Countries have different concern of humankind’ and the convention is one of halting ‘the loss of biodiversity and the degradation strategies to implement the UK BAP and a new the key drivers of biodiversity conservation. of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, framework for delivering priority habitats and species in and restoring them in so far as feasible, while England, ‘Securing Biodiversity’, was published by the stepping up the EU contribution to averting global Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs biodiversity loss.’ in 2008. This emphasises the need to take a landscape scale approach to biodiversity conservation and to embed climate change adaptation principles in conservation action. Common knapweed Polluted stream Rays Road Open Space Spindle tree Nature for People: A Biodiversity Action Plan for Enfield 7 The London Biodiversity Action Plan The Enfield Biodiversity Action Plan The International Year of Biodiversity