Biodiversity Duty good practice
Biodiversity Duty good practice
Depending on your size and functions there are a range of things your organisation can do to maintain and enhance biodiversity and wildlife, from reviewing your procurement policies, to habitat creation and management through reduced mowing regimes, to influencing larger, landscape scale initiatives.
Examples include providing wildlife habitats, nest boxes, bee banks, green roofs, sustainable drainage systems, reducing energy consumption, recycling and procuring locally and from sustainable sources. Where your organisation owns or manages land, practicing wildlife friendly management will provide a welcome boost to biodiversity. Involving your staff in the planning and management of nature will embed biodiversity into your organisation. Staff volunteering days with partner organisations to undertake habitat management and taking part in nature recording through citizen science initiatives is also encouraged.
The Nature Recovery Action Plan for Wales lists six objectives which should be used to help with establishing your biodiversity priorities and actions together with the section 7 lists of priority habitats and species in Wales, the State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR) and (when published) Area Statements.
Other sources of advice and examples include the Wildlife Trusts " Take action for wildlife" and WCVA's "Investing in Nature" and are excellent starting points. For further ideas on actions to address the s6 duty, see actions listed in the ‘Art of the Possible’ program.
If you have any queries concerning the actions that you can take to help biodiversity then contact the Wales Biodiversity Partnership who can provide or direct you to additional sources of advice and guidance. If you have questions concerning the legislation or guidance documents then please direct your query to S6BiodiversityDuty@gov.wales
Examples of Good Practice by public authorities in Wales in complying with their section 6 biodiversity duty
Actions taken to help biodiversity should be guided as far as possible by the 6 objectives of the Nature Recovery Action Plan (NRAP) which have been identified to contribute to reversing the decline of biodiversity in Wales. Therefore, each example includes a reference to which objective/s they are aligned to. The 6 objectives are:
Objective 1: Engage and support participation and understanding to embed biodiversity throughout decision making at all levels
Objective 2: Safeguard species and habitats of principal importance and improve their management
Objective 3: Increase the resilience of our natural environment by restoring degraded habitats and habitat creation
Objective 4: Tackle key pressures on species and habitats
Objective 5: Improve our evidence, understanding and monitoring
Objective 6:Put in place a framework of governance and support for delivery.
More detailed information regarding each objective can be found here
The examples on the following links are from public authorities across Wales to illustrate some of the actions that can be taken to maintain and enhance biodiversity and promote ecosystem resilience. They have been divided into three groups based on whether they have a land management function and their level of involvement in biodiversity.
Group 1
Description of organisation relative to biodiversity
- that own or occupy an office building only and
- whose functions are not directly connected to biodiversity and/or land management.
Minimum Actions
Actions related to buildings management, procurement, sustainability, awareness raising, training, or in partnership with other organisations
Public authority
The Future Generations Commissioner
Biodiversity Action
The carbon emissions generated by running the office are offset by making a donation each year to the Woodland Trust and the Size of Wales charities.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
Auditor General for Wales
Biodiversity Action
They have established an environmental champion’s staff group to promote the sustainability principle and raise awareness of various staff initiatives, including those related to biodiversity and ecosystems resilience.
Additional Information
Initiatives include:
Joining four schemes for recycling typically hard-to-recycle waste including the Pladis Biscuits and Snacks Recycling Programme and the Crisp Packet Recycling Scheme
Participating in the Keep Wales Tidy beach clean in September 2018, where colleagues attended events at three beaches across Wales.
Running an active internal social media group and hosting ‘lunch and learn’ workshops where ideas for reducing impacts on the environment are shared.
NRAP objective met by action: 1 & 6
Public authority
Public Service Ombudsman
Biodiversity Action
A programme to replace existing lighting with LED light bulbs and also encourage staff and visitors to turn off lights and heating/air conditioning when not in use, has resulted in a 13% reduction in electricity usage since 2016/17.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
Children’s Commissioner for Wales
Biodiversity Action
With the negative impact lighting can have on insects and also the potential for saving energy, the Commissioner’s accommodation project team will audit the lighting both within and outside of their office building during the hours of darkness.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
Health Education and Improvement Wales
Biodiversity Action
Various initiatives to encourage more sustainable travel. These include providing appropriate facilities to enable staff to cycle to work, introduce a cycle to work scheme and provide three electric charging points.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
The Children’s Commissioner for Wales
Biodiversity Action
The Commissioner has included the biodiversity duty in its performance evaluation framework and also reports on how it is complying with the duty in its annual report.
NRAP objective met by action: 1
Public authority
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
Biodiversity Action
Actions taken to reduce the amount of paper used with the aim of becoming a paperless office. Initiatives include making electronic case records the definitive case record and incorporating letterhead details into electronic documents to remove the need to print onto letterheads. Also, bodies within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction were asked for contact to be made electronically where possible.
Additional Information
This has resulted that in most cases no paper file is now kept and has contributed to a 38% reduction in the amount of confidential waste between 2016/17 and 2018/19.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
Welsh Council for Voluntary Action
Biodiversity Action
As part of the Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild campaign staff took part in a litter pick in the area around their office
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
The Future Generations Commissioner
Biodiversity Action
Providing support to staff to encourage more sustainable transport usage. This has included help for staff to lease ultra-low emission vehicles, cycle storage facilities and a move to use public transport which has resulted in a 44% decrease in car mileage in 2018-19.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
Biodiversity Action
In October 2019 staff participated in a volunteering day with the Glamorgan Heritage Coast Centre, Dunraven Park. Activities on the day included litter and plastic collection as well as maintenance of Heritage Coast grasslands.
NRAP objective met by action: 3 & 4
Public authority
Children’s Commissioner for Wales
Biodiversity Action
They ensure that recycled, organic or biodegradable materials are actively considered when ordering office supplies including cleaning materials, stationery, ‘freebies’ and art materials. (Research availability of ‘freebies’ that encourage biodiversity such as flower seeds or ideas packs for biodiversity such as building bug homes.)
NRAP objective met by action: 3 & 4
S6 Group 1 Organisations and Actions pdf format
Group 2
Description of organisation relative to biodiversity
- that own, occupy or manage land their own buildings and grounds,
- whose functions are connected with biodiversity and/or land management, or
- that can influence those who own or manage land
Minimum Actions
As per Group 1 above PLUS grounds management, cascading funding criteria, providing education and training
Public authority
Swansea University
Biodiversity Action
The University published a Biodiversity Action Plan (2016-2020) which mainstreamed biodiversity gain into development and maintenance of the University estate through such initiatives as the establishment of a cross-departmental working group to oversee the development and implementation of the Plan.
Additional Information
The University’s Plan included a target for net biodiversity gain during campus development which has largely been met. Green wall in Active Classroom has been the most successful, planted with native species for pollinators and acts as a nursery for Sea Stock to boost population in a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 2, 3 & 6
Public authority
Intellectual Property Office
Biodiversity Action
The IPO encourage biodiversity by leaving areas unmown. For example, an area along a fence line will be left uncut to allow grass and brambles to grow and any branches cut will be left on the ground to decay naturally and provide habitat for a variety of bugs.
NRAP objective met by action: 3
Public authority
Cardiff University
Biodiversity Action
All staff and students are required to undertake the University Sustainability induction.
Additional Information
The presentation includes a section on the Section 6 biodiversity duty, the University’s biodiversity strategy and Action plan, together with information on a number of projects that they run including Greening Cathays, their Bee Friendly status and Great Bluebell project.
NRAP objective met by action: 1
Public authority
Office of National Statistics
Biodiversity Action
A green roof was incorporated within the Data Science Campus design during 2017/18 and maintained to support biodiversity.
NRAP objective met by action: 3
Public authority
Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency
Biodiversity Action
The Agency is working with their partners to reduce light pollution by trialling a refit of deep red spectrum LED lighting which will cause less disturbance to bat species foraging across the site.
NRAP objective met by action: 4
Public authority
Public Health Wales
Biodiversity Action
The Agency have published a plan Making Space for Nature which details the actions that it will take to maintain and enhance biodiversity. It divides these actions into five sections one of which is developing our estate. This includes looking for opportunities on encouraging biodiversity and supporting bees and wildlife across their estate, for example appropriate and diverse planting, wildflower areas for pollinators, and leaving areas of unmown grass, whilst involving their staff and seeking expert guidance from Natural Resources Wales
Additional Information
The plan also includes initiatives to promote the benefits of volunteering, particularly in the context of nature/green spaces and encouraging staff to explore how garden/green space ideas could be taken forward at the organisation’s local sites.
NRAP objective met by action:1, 3 & 6
Public authority
Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service (in collaboration with Pembrokeshire County Council)
Biodiversity Action
Collaborative work with Pembrokeshire Nature Partnership - Key conservation features which could be at risk during emergency responses were identified. These features were mapped and provided as a GIS layer accessible to fire crews en route to incidents (when life is not at risk). These include location of major maternity bat roosts, nesting ground bird areas in grassland and location of known waterborne invasive non-native species which should not be used as a source of firefighting water.
Additional Information
Tangible impact on maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity. Awareness of Biodiversity raised and public engaged within the Local Authority area.
NRAP objective met by action: 1 and 5
Public authority
Cardiff University
Biodiversity Action
Reduction in the frequency of mowing of an area that was previously maintained as lawn
Additional Information
Slow worms now occur on the site which are monitored by a staff volunteer. The volunteer posts regular photos on the University’s Wildlife and Wildflower social media group to educate others about the species. The area where the slow worms inhabit is only mown once a year in November.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 2 & 3
Public authority
Driving Vehicle Licensing Agency
Biodiversity Action
As part of their Biodiversity Action Plan, the Agency has a list of native plants and a ‘do not use’ list which are used to inform decisions when planting on their sites.
Additional Information
To assist in the eradication of non-native species and promote the planting of native plants and trees.
NRAP objective met by action: 3 & 4
Public authority
Cardiff University
Biodiversity Action
The University’s sports grounds management team have developed a strategy for managing non-native invasive species.
Additional Information
All sightings of Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam along with invasive native species such as mare’s tail and bracken are reported to the grounds manager and tagged. Each species is allocated a treatment plan, consisting of a recommended chemical, number of treatments, and follow up monitoring. This strategy has been effective at reducing the number of areas still affected by invasive species.
NRAP objective met by action: 4 & 6
Public authority
Public Health Wales
Biodiversity Action
The Agency have introduced a number of initiatives under their sustainable procurement plan which are designed to maintain and enhance biodiversity. These include reviewing their corporate paper order to ensure that it is from sustainable forests, reducing the amount of paper used, reviewing their corporate cleaning supplies to ensure they are biodegradable and sourcing further opportunities to procure goods which are biodegradable and/or made from recycled material using local procurement.
NRAP objective met by action: 1 & 4
S6 Group 2 Organisations and Actions pdf format
Group 3
Description of organisation relative to biodiversity
- that own or manage land beyond their own grounds, whether their functions are connected with biodiversity and/or land management or not.
Minimum Actions
As per Groups 1 and 2 above PLUS land management to maintain and enhance biodiversity, and promote the resilience of ecosystems.
Public authority
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Biodiversity Action
The Authority published a Biodiversity and Ecosystem Resilience Forward Plan detailing their commitment to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. The plan included developing a Service Area Action Plan interview template. The document is used to highlight risks and opportunities for delivery of the section 6 duty across the Authority’s service areas.
Additional Information
Examples include highlighting inappropriate land management and increasing the efficiency of council buildings
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 5 & 6
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Little Tern was a named priority in the corporate plan 2017 – 2022, together with a few other key species, and work to conserve them is reported on every quarter.
Additional Information
The Local Authority manage the only colony of Little Terns in Wales, and they work with volunteers from the North Wales Little Tern Group (made up of local residents) to protect the site, manage and encourage visitors, carry out scientific research, and feed data into the EU Life+ project to conserve the species in the UK. Under this management, the little terns at Gronant fledged almost one third of the total birds in the UK this year.
This raised awareness of biodiversity and engaged the public within the Local Authority area, helped by the Authority producing a number of short films about the project.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 3, 5 and 6
Public authority
Tonyrefail and District Community Council
Biodiversity Action
When undertaking grass cutting, the grass is collected and removed to ensure it does not negatively impact on biodiversity by preventing soils becoming too nutrient rich and smothering underlying plants.
NRAP objective met by action: 3
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
Biodiversity was made a corporate priority in the Council’s corporate plan 2017 - 2022 to raise awareness of its importance.
The prominence of biodiversity in the plan led to the appointment of a full-time biodiversity officer, together with funding of a service level agreement with Cofnod, the local environmental records centre, giving the Authority access to wildlife data for planning and project work. This has led to biodiversity issues now being taken into consideration for projects at an early stage, including site renovations and proposed active travel routes.
Additional Information
The new full-time staff member has increased capacity to deliver against the section 6 duty, and corporate plan targets. Staff time has been able to be used as match funding for some recent grant funding applications.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 5 & 6
Public authority
Goetre Fawr Community Council
Biodiversity Action
Establishment of a new planning committee to include consideration of the environmental impact of applications.
Prior to the summer of 2019 all planning applications were considered at full council meetings. Time limitations at these meetings meant that it was impossible to consider the wider environmental impact of any applications. Therefore, a new planning committee was established which has enabled a much more detailed examination of planning proposals.
Additional Information
Issues that the Committee has highlighted have included:
- The prevention of the removal of hedgerows and trees (with any unavoidable damage caused by construction equipment etc made good)
- The impact of development on watercourses
- The potential for pollution from sewage or other ‘noxious’ run-off
NRAP objective met by action: 6
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
Using alternative approaches to weed control. First local authority in Wales to purchase a Foamstream M600 which uses an organic foam mix and hot water to kill weeds. It is non-toxic, and can be used on sensitive sites and near water, reducing potential impacts on people, wildlife and the environment.
Additional Information
This technology is said to be safe in sensitive environments such as near watercourses and cost effective (as it reduces the number of weed control applications per year). The use of new techniques helps to raise awareness and engage the public within the Local Authority area on biodiversity and associated issues.
Costs incurred in purchasing new equipment but comparable costs when in use.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 2, 3 and 4
Public authority
Dŵr Cymru
Biodiversity Action
Welsh Government has funded the Company’s pan-Wales PestSmart Project which encourages people to consider ‘smarter’ ways of weed, pest and disease control that do not impact on people, water or wildlife.
Additional Information
One initiative is the 2020 Pesticide Disposal Scheme. This is a free and confidential disposal scheme for farmers, growers, gamekeepers, foresters and land managers to safely dispose of any unwanted, out of date or unlicensed pesticides and herbicides which are difficult or expensive to dispose of.
NRAP objective met by action:4 & 6
Public authority
Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
Biodiversity Action
NRW integrated the actions it will take to comply with the section 6 duty into its Corporate Plan (2017-22). This has been facilitated by the production of Vital Nature which is a statement of the organisation’s priorities, direction of travel and ways of working to help steer, prioritise and deliver biodiversity action.
Additional Information
Vital Nature identifies 6 priority areas one of which is Investing in the knowledge and skills of our staff. This includes utilising this specialist expertise to support landowners, business leaders and community groups. For example, they have rented a lowland grassland SSSI that was in a poor condition to a local Scout group. Through setting up a management plan with them the site is now actively managed which provided funding for the clearing of scrub, mowing rank grassland and the control of Himalayan Balsam. The agreement is delivering biodiversity benefits, in terms of improving the condition of the SSSI features and provides the Scouts with a site where they can camp, play outdoor games and pursue environmental projects which deliver health and well-being benefits for local groups.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 3, 4 & 6
Public authority
Carmarthenshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Planning Division will develop a consistent approach to ensure that ecosystem resilience is promoted as part of the planning system and also within its Conservation, Minerals Forward Planning and Building Control activities.
Additional Information
For example, planning applications are assessed by CCC’s planning ecologist to ensure that approvalsdemonstrate that it is discharging its section 6 duty. For example, the Ecological Mitigation Plan for the Bury Port Harbour Developments addressed the demolition of a pipistrelle bat roost under NRW licence, reptile (slow worm and common lizard) translocation, working outside of the bird-nesting season, and off site compensation for the loss of open mosaic habitat on previously developed land, by way of a financial contribution to the cost of managing Morfa Berwig Local Nature Reserve over 25 years in order to provide this habitat in perpetuity.
NRAP objective met by action: 1 and 6
Public authority
Dŵr Cymru
Biodiversity Action
The company has trialled the role of Biodiversity Champions in its wastewater business.
Additional Information
Twelve biodiversity champions volunteered. Their efforts have included planting native trees, bulbs and seeds; segregation of land allocated for ‘wild growth’ within operational sites and construction of habitats to encourage nesting and breeding of birds, insects and other wildlife. Some have worked with local schools and others have involved bodies such as RSPB, Bug Life and the Woodland Trust.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 3 and 6
Public authority
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Biodiversity Action
The Council identified biodiversity as one of the areas requiring greater emphasis when mapping their Corporate Plan.
Additional Information
This resulted in biodiversity being included in the annual Corporate Performance Reports. A biodiversity question was also included in the Service Self Evaluation that each Council Service completed in 2017 which has provided a baseline to enable the Authority to judge its performance in future years. This will also assist them when preparing their section 6 compliance report.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 5 & 6
Public authority
Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
Biodiversity Action
Natural Resources Wales has created a new, permanent position through their organisational design process, employing a senior invasive non-native species (INNS) project officer.
Additional Information
This work will help ensure the management and impacts of INNS are considered at all levels across the organisation. It has raised the profile of INNS and biosecurity issues internally and increased the capacity of NRW to influence outside organisations. The work will help to make NRW an exemplar in biosecurity, improve coordination of actions and prioritise resources.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 3, 4 and 6
Public authority
Carmarthenshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Council implemented a planting design for a roundabout that would be sustainable and both low cost and low maintenance.
Additional Information
Design included replacing annual bedding plants with pollinator friendly perennials which resulted in lower annual labour costs.
NRAP objective met by action: 3
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
In 2019 the Authority worked with volunteers to restore 2 ponds for Natterjack toads. They also introduced grazing to the area around the ponds to control the vegetation and create suitable habitat. In 2019, 10 spawn strings were counted.
NRAP objective met by action: 2 & 3
Public authority
Cyngor Cymuned Pontyclun Community Council
Biodiversity Action
The Council is designated Bee Friendly. The Caru Gwenyn/Bee Friendly scheme is a Wales wide initiative and encourages communities and organisations to take positive action for pollinators.
Additional Information
The Council use pollinator friendly flowers in their hanging baskets.
NRAP objective met by action: 3
Public authority
Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
Biodiversity Action
NRW management of Clocaenog Forest encourages the conservation of Red Squirrel and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly.
Clocaenog is one of the three focal areas in Wales for red squirrel conservation. NRW manages the forest, in partnership with others, to support the ongoing conservation of red squirrels, for example by leaving stands of Norway spruce un-thinned and maintaining connective corridors. A population reinforcement project is currently being undertaken through the release of captive bred red squirrels.
Additional Information
Targeted forest management practices also help support a significant population of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly which breeds and moves between the small patches of wet grassland and bog throughout the forest where the larval food plants (Marsh Violet) occur.
NRAP objective met by action: 2 & 3
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Authority became a “Bee Friendly” local authority, with accreditation from Welsh Government. The Biodiversity Officer ran a “Bee Friendly Denbighshire” logo design contest, which was open to all schools in the county. Four winning schools were selected from hundreds of entries and the Authority is now running sessions at these schools, which will focus on creating “Bee Friendly” areas within their grounds and using wildflower plants grown as part of their “Life on the Verge” project.
Additional Information
This raised awareness of pollinator decline, their bee friendly accreditation, and engaged with the hundreds of school children involved in the project.
The authority now has a “Bee Friendly Denbighshire” logo, which will be used on all sites managed for pollinators in the county and the logo also helps publicise the initiative.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 2 & 3
Public authority
Natural Resources Wales
Biodiversity Action
At their offices in Maes y ffynnon they have stopped cutting the grass through the Spring and Summer in order to encourage biodiversity.
Additional Information
This has resulted in flowers and orchids, including some rare varieties, growing around the office, which in turn have attracted many insects including different species of butterflies and bumblebees. It requires little management and has had a positive impact on costs through much reduced mowing. It also has wellbeing benefits through providing a pleasant environment for staff to work or take a break in.
NRAP objective met by action: 3
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
Managing road verges for wildlife. Current projects include updating verge cutting policy to reduce the frequency of cuts.
This policy now comprises a single cut each year, with approximately 1,820km (78%) of the road verge network cut after the 1st August, in order to benefit pollinating insects and allow wildflowers to set seed.
Additional Information
Produced a cost effective, safe, and biodiverse road verge network. Possible costs saving from switching from two cuts, to a single cut.
NRAP objective met by action: 2 and 3
Public authority
Pontyclun Community Council
Biodiversity Action
The Council supports and works closely with the volunteers of Pontyclun Environment Group
Additional Information
Activities of the Group have included working with Llais y Goedwig (a community woodlands organisation) to optimise the health of woodland areas on land leased from the Council. They have also taken action to manage Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam along the River Ely and organised walks with the county ecologist so that residents can better understand and appreciate the diversity of the area.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 3 and 4
Public authority
Denbighshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Local Authority have signed a service level agreement with Cofnod, the local environmental records centre, who now supply environmental records which are used when assessing planning applications.
With the availability of high quality data and planning searches based on records of local Taxa (including section 7 species¹) provided by the Local Environmental Records Centre, this has encouraged the streamlining of processes, embedding the consideration of biodiversity in the Local Authority’s functions and saving money where non-consideration of the existence of protected species may have resulted in prosecution.
Additional Information
Cost to procure but potential saving as the Local Authority is able to provide improved advice on internal projects, and to residents who are in the process of applying for planning permission.
NRAP objective met by action: 1, 2 and 5
Public authority
Torfaen County Borough Council
Biodiversity Action
Under their section 6 duty plan the Authority are improving data management so that GIS and all data regarding biodiversity, flood risk, wildlife corridors etc, is together and accessible for all teams
Additional Information
The increased availability of data at the planning stage will lead to an improved understanding of the environmental impact/benefit of projects which will have a positive impact on both strategic and day to day decisions.
NRAP objective met by action: 1 and 5
Public authority
Neath and Port Talbot Borough Council
Biodiversity Action
The Authority has a programme which identifies sites that qualify as Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation. Each site will be assessed against national guidelines and will be reviewed within 10 years.
Additional Information
The data collected will be used to update the QGIS layer and this information will be shared with South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre.
NRAP objective met by action: 5
Public authority
Carmarthenshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Biodiversity Officer met with teachers at a local primary school to discuss management of their school grounds to enhance the site for biodiversity.
Additional Information
This led to more diverse grassland areas with more species able to flower for longer within the school’s grounds, greater ecological connectivity and ecological resilience and opportunities created for teaching about ecosystems
NRAP objective met by action: 1 & 3
Public authority
Welsh Government
Biodiversity Action
The Welsh Government contracted the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) to create a Wales specific invasive non-native species (INNS) portal on the online NBN Atlas Wales.
Additional Information
The Portal provides a unique facility to view and search for INNS of interest to Wales.
The INNS Portal includes over 300 terrestrial, freshwater and marine species of interest to Wales and allows species occurrences and distribution to be searched for and downloaded individually or collectively by list. The data is freely available for non-commercial use and stakeholders are invited to help keep records up to date through the iRecord App or the LERC Wales App.
NRAP objective met by action: 5
Public authority
Cardiff University
Biodiversity Action
Through the development of a Biodiversity Action Plan evidence will be embedded into biodiversity decision making through a number of actions. These include two-way sharing of data with the South East Wales Biodiversity Record Centre and using ecologically trained staff and students in a voluntary capacity to collect evidence on trends in biodiversity across the University’s estate.
NRAP objective met by action: 5
Public authority
Dŵr Cymru
Biodiversity Action
The company introduced a Biodiversity Funding Scheme to support not-for-profit organisations to deliver projects that aim to deliver biodiversity benefits within the company’s operational boundary where there is some link to Dŵr Cymru’s activities. The company also supports small scale biodiversity actions by local communities, through its Community Fund.
Additional Information
Examples of the schemes supported by the company include a couple of initiatives to encourage communities to support nature in their local watercourses; native bluebell planting in parts of Cardiff; improvements to protected wetlands in West Wales and projects to target invasive non-native species.
NRAP objective met by action: 5
Public authority
National Grid
Biodiversity Action
The company have developed a Natural Capital tool that utilises third party data to provide indicative financial values associated with the provision of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, local air quality benefits, recreation and flood management.
Additional Information
This has enabled them to make better and more sustainable decisions and identify new opportunities to increase the provision of these services through proactive management, collaboration and community engagement.
NRAP objective met by action: 5
Public authority
Carmarthenshire County Council
Biodiversity Action
The Local Authority has produced guidance for Town and Community Councils (TCCs) to help them comply with their section 6 duty.
This will support TCCs to deliver on their section 6 duty as well as local authority grounds maintenance teams with the intention that more land will be managed for biodiversity and costs might be reduced due to more sustainable cutting and planting regimes.
Additional Information
They also collaborated with the National Botanic Garden of Wales through their Growing the Future Project, to run a 1-day workshop with contributions from elsewhere in the UK with delegates from Carmarthenshire and neighbouring authorities. The aim was to inspire and provide examples to local TCCs on managing their green space for public enjoyment, biodiversity and pollinators.
NRAP objective met by action: 3 and 6
(Note 1: Section 7 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 lists species and habitats of principal importance for the purposes of enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales.)
S6 Group 3 Organisations and Actions pdf format
- Bee Friendly scheme
- Building with Nature
- NHS Wales and the Biodiversity Duty
- Invasive species Local Action Groups
- My Wild Newport
- Plantlife Managing Grassland Road Verges guidelines
- Plots For Pollinators
- Pond Creation Toolkit
- Recording nature
- Urban Buzz Cardiff
- Wild About Gardens
- Wrexham Industrial Estate
- 52 tips for biodiversity (European Commission)
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