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Biodiversity

Part H of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate (Framework), published in August 2003, commits Departments to conducting audits of their estates; identifying significant sites for biodiversity; developing management plans for important habitats and species; and otherwise avoiding impacts and taking measures to enhance biodiversity.

The Government Estate covers over 74 million square metres, or more than one per cent of the UK's total land mass. Although MoD and HO are responsible for over 90 per cent of this land, all Departments, including those with only office-based estates, need to determine the impact that their operations have on biodiversity.

Last year, Departments were encouraged to promote biodiversity issues in the general management of its estate. A number of new, estate-specific Biodiversity Action Plans were drawn up and a range of action was taken by 13 Departments to incorporate biodiversity considerations into new policies or programmes.

Five Departments have already carried out audits of varying proportions of their estates to identify biodiversity impacts and a further 11 Departments have plans to do so. Seven Departments (DCMS, DfID, DfT, HO, LOD, MoD and ODPM) have also conducted audits to identify locally or nationally important habitats and species.

The Framework will include specific targets relating to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Five Departments (DCMS, DfT, DWP, HO and MoD) currently own and manage a total of more than 240 SSSIs.

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From nature reserves to playing fields - managing rural sustainability on the Ministry of Defence estate...

MoD's Estate Strategy "In Trust and On Trust" (2000) covers nature conservation, cultural heritage, landscape protection, public access, and relationships with tenants and local communities. The MoD environmental management system (EMS) is being used to help to integrate sustainable rural management within MoD's estate management across its entire 170,000-hectare rural estate.

Consideration of stakeholders was key: from military users to agricultural tenants and the general public.

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Integrated Rural Management Plans (IRMP)

MoD carried out pilot trials to show how rural issues could be assessed and plans developed at three sites; Dean Hill (a site with an Site of Special Scientific Interest), RAF Kinloss (adjacent to sensitive areas) and the Royal Navy's Air Station at Yeovilton (with no rural designations). The format was designed with non-specialists in mind, so that everyone from the Officer in Charge to the grounds maintenance contractor can readily understand their IRMP.

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RAF Kinloss - EMS Integrated Rural Management Plan

The Initial Environmental Review at RAF Kinloss showed that site operations, construction and facilities management (FM) all affected the rural environment. The Integrated Rural Management Plan considered in particular the effects of:

of new construction on the landscape of the Moray Firth
airfield operations and facilities management on biodiversity and buried heritage
airfield run-off and natural erosion impacts on the coastal area of the site
coastal erosion on public access along the north of the site

Also considered were:

the increasing significance of the built heritage of this World War II site
the value of a co-ordinated approach to community relations.

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Good Practice Guidance Notes

MoD wants to improve advice to help staff make assessments, prepare Integrated Rural Management Plans, set up monitoring schemes and report on achievements. A specialist designer helped with a set of web-based notes for the MoD Intranet, accessible by 150,000 users. The pages will be updated on a bi-monthly basis. Worked examples of the EMS-IRMPs are included within the notes. These have been particularly well received as site managers and EP Advisers were looking for models to use as standards.

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Departmental Data

For more detail on the how specific Departments within the UK Government are achieveing these targets, please access our Search Departmental Data section.

Report 2003

Updated: 07 March 2005