Biodiversity Policies, Strategies and Action
Plans
The words 'biodiversity strategy' and 'biodiversity policy' are
often used by different companies to mean the same thing. Essentially,
they should define a company's high level approach to biodiversity,
identify the sort of biodiversity initiatives being undertaken and
address how the company will go about putting them into practice.
At a national level, the term UK Biodiversity Action Plan, as outlined
in UK Obligations,
identifies the country's priorities in biodiversity conservation,
and formulates a series of focused action plans designed to achieve
these objectives: Species Action Plans, Habitat Action Plans and
Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs). Similarly, at the level
of an individual business, or group of businesses, a company BAP
is a formal process or system of identifying, planning and implementing
methods to manage the biodiversity issues related to a particular
company. A company BAP will include the action plans being implemented
for habitats and species at specific sites where companies have
biological resources within their boundaries, but may also encompass
a range of other biodiversity initiatives appropriate to the size
and type of company. A Company BAP goes beyond a description of
a company's approach to biodiversity (its strategy or policy) to
set out a formal system by which the company can manage its overall
impacts on biodiversity. The Company BAP should include assessment
of the company's impacts on biodiversity, place these within the
local, regional and national context and establish a system for
setting, implementing and reviewing targets for its component biodiversity
initiatives.
Photo Credit: Dave Slater |