Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth. Biodiversity is about the whole range of living things, from well known trees, animals and flowering plants to lesser known flies, bugs, mosses, fungi, bacteria and even viruses. It is also about the wide range of habitats that these species live in and depend upon. Biodiversity can be found everywhere, not only in nature reserves, remote upland areas and in the sea, but also in your back garden, local park and roadside.
The urgent need to conserve biodiversity has been at the top of the UK government’s conservation agenda since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Signatory governments at this conference accepted responsibility for conserving biodiversity in their own country through the sustainable and fair use of biological resources.
Our government has produced a national framework for the protection of biodiversity - the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). At a more local level the Essex BAP partnership has helped to develop our regional approach to biodiversity.
Why biodiversity matters to Essex & Suffolk Water and our customers
The UK BAP is designed to halt any further decline in the number and variety of key habitats and species in the UK. As both a landowner and operator, we are committed to conserving and enhancing biodiversity in our region. Furthermore, research carried out by us, and others, shows that our customers are also concerned about preserving their local environment.
Regionally, our work on biodiversity has been in partnership with Essex Wildlife Trust, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, Natural England, the Essex Biodiversity Project, the Environment Agency, Water for Wildlife and the Broads Authority.
How Essex & Suffolk Water is meeting the challenge
We have the opportunity to contribute to the achievement not only of national but also local targets for nature conservation by working as a partner of the Essex Biodiversity Project to achieve the targets in the Essex BAP. Essex BAP species, for example Dormice and Black Poplar, can be found on a number of our sites so we aim encourage the growth and development of these populations and endeavour to keep any impacts of our operations to an absolute minimum.