Standing up for the environment 

Life on earth, in all its bedazzling variety, from bacteria to buffalo, from hummingbirds to human beings, is known as "biodiversity". Wiltshire may not have hummingbirds or buffalo in the wild but we have a fantastic range of wildlife, including the nationally rare Bechstein's Bat (Myotis bechsteinii), Chalk-hill Blue butterfly (Lysandra coridon), Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) and our county flower the Burnt Orchid (Orchis ustulata).

Wiltshire's landscape is dominated by arable farmland that can be a rich wildlife habitat when managed sensitively. Wiltshire also has many other important habitats resulting from its geology, often described as 'Chalk and Cheese'. The 'Chalk' includes the grasslands of Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain and chalk rivers and streams such as the River Avon and its tributaries. The 'Cheese' refers to the clay area giving rise to neutral grasslands and woodlands.

The aim of all our wildlife work in Wiltshire is to enhance, restore and protect our local biodiversity. This can be in conjunction with landowners, local authorities or with local communities.

We have a team of specialists working at the Trust in the Biodiversity Action and Land Management departments and Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre delivering these objectives in a number of different ways. This includes visiting landowners to offer advice on land management for wildlife, as well as restoration and enhancement. Also advice and support is given on grant opportunities such as Environmental Stewardship and Woodland Grant schemes.

Biodiversity action plans
The term ‘biodiversity’ was brought into prominence following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, where more than 150 heads of Government, including our own, signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD required these governments to take a wide range of actions to halt and, if possible reverse, the universal decline of biodiversity. The UK government responded to this by producing a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). The UK BAP incorporates plans for the protection, enhancement and expansion of biodiversity in the UK, concentrating on threatened or declining natural habitats and species. Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) enable the UK BAP priorities to be translated to a local level, while also including species and habitats that are of a local, but not national importance and thus do not appear on the UK BAP.

Water for wildlife project
This new project combines two well-established areas of work – Water Vole conservation and restoring and managing areas of wetland across the county.

Wessex chalk streams project
The River Avon is one of the most biodiverse chalk streams in the UK and an exceptional part of the Wessex region, which is characterised by a unique wildlife community suited to the unusual geology. The project acts as a ‘one stop shop’, working with riparian landowners and managers to promote wildlife-friendly river enhancement and management of the Salisbury Avon in Wiltshire, which includes the tributaries, Wylye, Nadder, Till, Bourne and Ebble, as well as associated wetlands and areas suitable for wetland restoration.