Biodiversity

What is Biodiversity? Biodiversity is short for biological diversity and simply describes the variety of all living things, from flowering plants to birds, from butterflies to mosses. It embraces all life from the common place to the greatly endangered. Biodiversity under threat Species are currently becoming extinct at the fastest rate known in geological history and in the UK alone over 100 species have disappeared since 1900. It is clear that something must be done to counteract the current losses and this concern was addressed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 where over 150 governments signed the UN Convention of Biological Diversity.

Biodiversity Action Plans in the UK- Global to Local
The Rio Summit led directly to the production of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), which identified broad activities for conservation work, and the creation of the UK Biodiversity Steering Group.

These national species and habitat action plans were then translated and amplified into a regional and then local context.

What is a Biodiversity Action Plan?
A Biodiversity Action Plan is document that describes a positive route towards
conserving biodiversity in a given area. A BAP includes clear actions and targets for habitats and species and places responsibility for these actions on organisations and individuals.

Action for Wildlife-The Dartmoor Biodiversity Action Plan
The Dartmoor BAP includes action plans to conserve all of Dartmoor's habitats and species, including those which do not appear in other plans. The plan details what action must be taken on the ground, when and who will do it. It makes provisions for species and habitats that are important locally for Dartmoor's biodiversity, such as mosses, ferns, lichens and blanket bogs. You can download a copy by going to our publications page.