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South West Nature Map summary

There is significant effort underway throughout the region to conserve our biodiversity, but major challenges lie ahead if we are to stop further losses, re-establish lost wildlife and enable it to adapt to the pressures of climate change. The South West Nature Map shows the best areas to maintain and expand (through restoration and/or re-creation) terrestrial wildlife habitats at a landscape scale.

It is important to stress that land outside of the Nature Map areas also contains wildlife sites and species that are important in their own right. There are many different tools and mechanisms in place that contribute to their conservation, and Nature Map is a significant addition to the wider strategy for biodiversity conservation in the region.

Nature Map was produced by the South West Regional Biodiversity Partnership. It selects landscape scale blocks of land, known as Strategic Nature Areas (SNAs), to improve habitat networks and to sustain wildlife within them. This was achieved through regional consultation using the best available biodiversity data, local expert knowledge and the South West Wildlife Trust’s Rebuilding Biodiversity methodology. SNAs will contain a mosaic of habitats, building on existing core areas and co-existing with other land uses, such as agriculture and recreation. The principal rivers are also included on the Nature Map as important linear features for biodiversity.

We expect the map to be used by the region’s decision-makers, organisations and businesses to:

1. identify where most of the major biodiversity concentrations are found and where targets to maintain, restore and re-create wildlife might best be met
2. formulate sustainable choices for development, e.g. through Local Development Frameworks and the Regional Spatial Strategy
3. assist in targeting the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme
4. develop partnerships and projects for biodiversity in the region
5. provide a focus for projects that will help biodiversity to adapt to climate change

The South West Regional Biodiversity Partnership will use Nature Map to promote biodiversity conservation in the region, but success depends upon partners from all sectors creating the rich and fertile grounds in which biodiversity can flourish. Re-establishing biodiversity in the areas identified by Nature Map will require:

• excellent support from nature conservation organisations to enable land owners and managers to take up the Nature Map challenge
• a shift in emphasis from a site based approach towards the wider landscape scale
• a strategic approach to forward planning and development control, in order to link, buffer and re-create wildlife habitats
• a focus on biodiversity outcomes, rather than detailed prescriptions for how these are delivered
• blending the assets, skills, and imagination of different sectors to create effective local delivery partnerships
• sustained resources from Government, the private sector and voluntary bodies

If we follow these principles, Nature Map will make a significant contribution to sustainable development in the South West.