Rushmoor Biodiversity Action Plan - Hampshire County Council

Biodiversity Action Plan 2008Biodiversity: From Rio to Rushmoor 131.5 What are the main threats to biodiversity?There are a number of key factors that have detrimental effects on the level of biodiversity in this area,most are related to human activities.The top four threats identified are development, pollution, inappropriate land management and climatechange.DEVELOPMENTDevelopment poses a large threat to biodiversity through direct loss ofhabitats and indirectly through habitat fragmentation and the additionalimpacts of a development throughout its lifetime on the surroundingenvironment e.g. changes and demands on natural water systems andpressures from increased traffic and other related infrastructure. Rushmooris positioned within easy access of London; this puts a large developmentpressure on the area for housing, infrastructure and recreation.The increased impact on natural resources from a development are not onlyfrom the material required for the construction phase, but also their demandfor energy and water once the development is active. Impacts on surroundinghabitats also need to be considered as changes in light, wind, drainage andusage of these habitats can affect the type and amount of different speciesable to survive there.It is important that in setting out actions to improve biodiversity within the borough, we are mindfulto reduce our negative impact on the biodiversity of other areas.ACTION: Ensure the council Development Control and Planning Policy departments includebiodiversity as a priority in all development plans and applications.POLLUTIONAir, water, light and noise pollution can all impact on biodiversity, changing local the features andspecies found in different habitats. Different types of pollution can affect different species andhabitats in different ways, e.g. light pollution can delay emergence time for bats, reducing the amountof time they have to forage insects, it can also affect natural mating and foraging behaviour in birds.Pollution can come from many different sources and activities and it is important to identify whererisks of pollution are most likely and to reduce the negative impact on local wildlife.