Biodiversity Action Plans Flashcards

Question

How does a BAP help working with others?

Answer 1

Working with others inside and outside organization. May be sympathetic or not or political/beaurocratic. Involves thinking about how your work as a garden or managers has impacts beyond the hort. Involves thinking about how your 'patch' integrates with the wider world.

Answer 2

A Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is a set of criteria, determined by an organisation, as to what needs to be done in the space to protect, enhance and encourage further biodiversity in the garden area. BAP’s should include aims, objectives and targets. The aim is to increase biodiversity, the objective is how to manage this project and the target is the goals that have been set to increase biodiversity. In a small garden, it usually includes what plants and methods to produce the outcome. IT can be as simple as planting pollinator friendly flowers to something more substantial such as building a woodpile and pond to encourage wildlife to enter. The BAP can be used in a small scale for the home gardener. MODEL: A BAP is a plan that sets out to analyse a particular place from the point of view of biodiversity and sets out ways in which it could be improved. Targets are set and proposals are made and dates set for implementation. In a garden a BAP is a way of looking at what we do in the garden in a wider context. BAPs operate at many different scales and within many different organisational and institutional contexts. They are actually very straightforward and can easily be developed for a small scale, even a private garden. In a garden context, much of the content of a BAP would be concerned with issues of plant selection, and management.

Answer 3

1. Building a woodpile from pruned tree branches – this will provide habitat and nesting locations for birds and insects. 2. Adding a hole in the fence – provides an entry point for hedgehogs to forage in the area. 3. Creating a water feature or providing marginal plants near ponds – this allows wildlife access to water in a safe manner. 4. Planting shrubs, subshrubs and climbers under trees – allowing a corridor and habitat for wildlife to move from one place to another safely. 5. Reducing the amount of mowing of lawns – this provides more pollen and nectar for foraging pollinators while also reducing carbon emissions from lawnmowers. MODEL: leaving log piles in discrete shaded locations – boost invertebrate biodiversity, * softening a gradient to a pond and planting up with water-loving plants – improve access to water, creating habitat, and impeding human access to water as a safety measure, * new shrub planting along boundaries – to build up wildlife corridors, * underplanting of roses in old-fashioned rose border with ground cover perennials – small habitat boost and reduces area of bare soil, * replacing annual bedding with a seed-sown hardy annual mix, and leaving the seed heads until mid-winter – benefits for pollinators and bird life.

Answer 4

There is a large strip of land between the coastline and my neighborhood that has been left fallow for many years as a natural green space. It has just been approved by the local government to make a park and recreation center in this area. At present, they are in the design phase which I feel is the most important timeframe to review and determine a biodiversity action plan. 1. A study should be done of what wildlife lives there at present and what wildlife is either missing or underrepresented (This is an extremely biodiverse neighborhood with birds, snakes, invertebrates, coyotes, raptors, mountain lions, gophers, rabbits, voles and moles to name a few!). 2. Any design should make sure that the community park retains the habitats in some form as well as develops more habitats for those missing or underrepresented. 3. A BAP should be done by our State Park Rangers with the help of naturalists. This should then be discussed with all parties to determine the best way forward, with the safety and health of the wildlife at hand. 4. Areas should be set aside for native plants, pollinator gardens and the use of a rain garden. My wish would be to include demonstration gardens so people can see/learn about what wildlife lives here. 5. When designing the area, the BAP should be adhered to and reviewed annually by an outside organization to be sure it is working well. Noel: You should mention the need for community engagement, which could be simply interpretation (boards etc.) or in some cases community consultation; very important that people feel a sense that they are being listened to. What is happening in this case? MODEL: The grounds of a school, once an extensive private garden, somewhat neglected, much unimaginative planting carried out. Some areas overgrown, others very intensively maintained. The school governors are approached and if they agree: A local naturalist is involved in a habitat survey, to assess what biodiversity might exist and to make some recommendations about how the situation could be described. Interested staff, governors and pupils involved in a project to make some proposals, and draw up some realistic targets. A BAP is drawn up, by the school gardener, in consultation, for changes in management to be made, over a number of years. The BAP to be made available and aspects of it integrated into the school curriculum where possible. An annual evaluation of progress to be made, involving an outside individual (perhaps the naturalist originally employed).

Biodiversity Action Plans Flashcards

(28 cards)