What is being done about the threat to the biodiversity at a national level in the United Kingdom? Are sufficient measures being undertaken throughout the United Kingdom and Europe or are the small local initiatives the only efforts? The main bodies responsible for ensuring that the needs of nature conservation are taken into account in the United Kingdom are the three national successors to the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC). Their duties include the provision of scientific advice, establishing and maintaining national nature reserves, and developing relevant research. The NCC was reorganised into three national agencies: English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council in Wales. There is a joint committee for international liaison and representation between the organisations, called the joint Nature Conservation Committee.

However, the 1968 Countryside Act also places a duty on every local authority, government department and public body to have regard to nature conservation, alongside the enhancement and maintenance of the natural beauty of the countryside. The wildlife of inland water-based areas is further protected by the specific duty imposed on the Environment Agency, water and sewerage undertakers, and internal drainage boards to conserve and enhance natural beauty, and to conserve flora and fauna.

	Water
	Ninety-seven percent of the earth is made up of water, yet less than 0.01 percent of this is fresh surface water. Life abounds everywhere, not least in these inland water-based areas, which are constantly under threat from pollution and sewage. Water is a crucial habitat for many freshwater fish, plants and animals. The Environment Agency is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of fresh, marine, surface and underground water in England and Wales, so as to ensure biodiversity and the preservation of the many ecosystems dependent on it. Industry, accidental pollution, transport and even agriculture all affect water quality. There are many different kinds of water pollution. One kind is explored below. Diffuse Water Pollution `Diffuse Water Pollution' arises from many sources dispersed throughout nature. Although the individual sources may be small, the impact can be devastating. It can occur through current and past agricultural and urban land use. It is mainly related to the way that we use and manage land and soil. It can affect rivers, lakes, coastal waters and ground waters. A variety of substances and methods are involved in diffuse pollution, including the release of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous from over-application of fertilisers and manure or from pesticides, or the release of oils and hydrocarbons from car maintenance. The detritus of modern industry and agriculture can be held responsible, having a significant impact on the relevant ecosystems and on wildlife in general: Ground water and surface water contamination, resulting in loss of drinking water Smothering of fish spawning gravels Nutrient enrichment and eutrophication Oxygen depletion Toxicity to plant and animal life, including endocrine disruption in fish

These nature conservation duties are now set within a national and international policy framework concerned with biodiversity loss at global, national and local levels. Following the Convention on Biological Diversity (agreed at the Rio Summit in 1992), the UK government published its Biodiversity Strategy in 1994, and a working party was set up to investigate how the strategy should be implemented. The working party devised a national biodiversity action plan, identifying key habitat types and priority species that required action to ensure their continued health and existence. A programme of devising management plans for these habitats and species was set in train, identifying targets, lead actors and the resource implications. They also set out the need for Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) to be prepared by local authorities on a similar basis. The declining populations of hundreds of species, from the song thrush to the sand lizard, are now being addressed in a comprehensive fashion.

	Thinking Points
	Do you think biodiversity is very important in the first place? Do you think that the threat to biodiversity has been exaggerated?

Central government accepted these recommendations in 1996, and the result will be a comprehensive set of plans across the country aimed at maintaining biodiversity through specific local habitat and species management strategies. The lead organisation for the implementation process is the UK Biodiversity Group, chaired by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and its four Country Groups. As of 1999, the UKBG has published action plans to cover an additional 275 species and 31 habitats, supplementing those prepared by the working party for 116 species and 14 habitats. LBAPs have also been prepared in over 160 local authority areas.

There is also a strategy framework at the European level. The EU Biodiversity Strategy was adopted in 1998, and the Commission is now drawing up sectoral Action Plans. In 1995 a Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy was also endorsed by ministers in the UN Economic Commission for Europe. This is intended to be a pan-European response in support of implementation of the 1992 Rio Convention on Biological Diversity. Its role is, however, quite distinct from that of the European Union and, therefore, lacks implementation measures separate from existing national opportunities.

	Biodiversity action plans
	Throughout the United Kingdom there are Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs). Their primary purpose is to focus resources by means of local partnerships to implement conservation action for the priority habitats and species and locally important wildlife and sites. There are also species and habitat action plans.

Area-based provision is made for nature conservation in the form of nature reserves. There are 392 national nature reserves in the United Kingdom, covering 226,000 hectares that have been designated by the relevant nature conservation agency. Some nature reserves are owned by the relevant agency or an 'approved body', such as the non-governmental Wildlife Trusts, but many are protected under management agreements between English Nature and landowners. Sometimes, by agreement, reserves are managed by district councils. Local authorities can enter into similar agreements and create local nature reserves. There are some 759 local reserves in the United Kingdom, covering 45,000 hectares in all. Other private and public bodies may designate non-statutory nature reserves, and local authorities can identify sites of importance for nature conservation to guide local planning. There are also three marine nature reserves, designated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and managed by English Nature. These are essentially managed under a 'voluntary approach', based on co-operation between relevant interests, although this may alter with the designation of marine sites as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Recently, the habitats afforded by traditional hedgerows have been given specific protection under the 1997 Hedgerows Regulations.