MEMORANDUM BY PROFESSOR COLIN T. REID,
UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE (BIO 01)
I wish to make the following brief points:
1. The protection of biodiversity is not
achieved simply by protecting particular designated sites. The
recent concentration on strengthening the law for such sites is
welcome, but creates a real danger that less attention is paid
to the wider countryside. In this regard agricultural and development
policies are of crucial importance and must ensure that biodiversity
considerations are given full weight. It may be comparatively
minor things that make all the difference, such as field margins,
hedgerows, run-off schemes from roads, felling schemes for forestry
plantations, effective maintenance of "green corridors"
through new developments.
2. The current legal structures are woefully
inadequate to offer appropriate protection or management for marine
biodiversity.
3. General obligations on various bodies
to "have regard to" biodiversity are of limited value
unless there is some means of checking that there has been a genuine
balancing of interests as opposed to mere lip-service. Requirements
to include an express "biodiversity balance sheet" as
part of the annual reports and accounts of statutory bodies and
as part of the departmental audit structures might offer a means
of ensuring that the issue is treated with sufficient seriousness
and that progress can be assessed.
4. Environmental impact assessment is a
beneficial tool, but it is absurd that in most cases there is
no follow-up after the initial approval has been given. Whether
to review the conditions under which a site is permitted to continue
in operation or just to test for future exercises the accuracy
of the methods used in the assessment, there should be some requirement
for follow-up studies in at least some cases.
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