Enstone Parish Council Biodiversity Action Plan 2024 [DRAFT]

What is Biodiversity?
Enstone Conservation Trust ENCON - Enstone Glyme

Enstone Eco - Peacock butterfly on a Field Scabious

Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms works together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life. Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive: food, clean water, medicine, and shelter.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/what-is-biodiversity

Background and Context

Under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, public authorities in England, including Parish Councils, have a duty to regard the conservation of biodiversity in their policy and decision-making.

Biodiversity has declined dramatically in recent decades, with almost one in six species now at risk of becoming extinct in Great Britain, and 12% in Northern Ireland. Despite this, Enstone Parish is privileged to host nine Local Wildlife Sites, and there are three main landscape types within the parish:

1. Farmland Plateau
2. Wooded Estate lands
3. Wooded Pasture Valleys and Slopes.

This provides both a responsibility and an opportunity to conserve and enhance these habitats, which the Parish Council supports both in its statutory duty and in support of the community.
Enstone Conservation Trust ENCON - Wildflowers

The Parish Council wishes to express its gratitude to Enstone Eco for their hard work and support in creating this Plan, as well as for advancing the Parish Council’s biodiversity goals and fostering positive change in the community.

Plan Objectives

Protect and Enhance Habitats: encourage the safeguarding of existing wildlife sites and implement restoration projects.
Community Engagement: Foster local involvement with volunteers and business partnerships.
Sustainable Practices: Encourage eco-friendly activities in the community, including knowledge sharing, and reduce harmful practices.
Monitoring and Reporting: Support the regular assessment of monitoring and reporting of key sites within the Parish through community groups.

Community Involvement

Community support is crucial, and an action plan will facilitate and guide the community on initiatives and ideas they can get involved in. The Parish needs volunteers to support practical activities to help sustain the work done so far.

Funding opportunities are available, both through government initiatives and local businesses that have shown interest in sponsoring projects. By working together, we can increase biodiversity within the Parish and improve the well-being of our community.

Monitoring

This plan will be reviewed every two years. This will include publishing a summary of how the policy has been progressed and realigned goals for the following year.

Enstone Parish Council Targets

By the end of 2024:

Develop an information page on the Parish website with photos, information, and links.
Conduct a parish survey to gather resident views on biodiversity initiatives in the village.

By the end of 2025:

Include biodiversity as an item on the PC meeting agenda every four months.
Engage with local businesses and residents to further explore their contributions and ideas.

Green Eye Way, Cleveley, Enstone Parish
By the end of 2026:

Involve the community in projects such as tree planting, wildflower meadow planting, and bird box making.

By the end of 2027:

Inclusion biodiversity policies in the neighbourhood plan.
Encourage residents to adopt and maintain local areas with eco-friendly practices.