APPENDIX 7
Memorandum submitted by the Joint Nature
Conservation Committee
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Joint Nature Conservation Committee
(JNCC) was established by the Environmental Protection Act 1990
as a committee of the then newly-created country nature conservation
agencies and others. The Countryside Council for Wales, English
Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage are the Government agencies
responsible for safeguarding and promoting wildlife and natural
features in Britain. CCW and SNH have additional duties to conserve
landscapes, and to encourage and sustain opportunities for public
enjoyment of the countryside.
1.2 The JNCC is the forum through which
the three country agencies act jointly to deliver their special
statutory responsibilities for nature conservation in Great Britain
and internationally. Since devolution, these special responsibilities
have also related to the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly
for Wales, as well as the UK government. The involvement of the
Environment and Heritage Service, an agency of the Department
of the Environment (Northern Ireland), allows us to adopt a consistent
approach across the United Kingdom, wherever this is appropriate.
1.3 The JNCC's special responsibilities
contribute to maintaining and enriching biological diversity,
enhancing geological features, and sustaining natural systems.
They are principally to:
— advise Ministers on the development
and implementation of policies for, or affecting, nature conservation
in Great Britain or internationally;
— provide advice and disseminate knowledge
to anyone about nature conservation affecting Great Britain and
internationally;
— establish common standards throughout
Great Britain for the monitoring of nature conservation, and for
research into nature conservation and the analysis of the results;
— commission or support research which
the Committee considers relevant to the special functions.
1.4 Staff from the three country agencies
work on behalf of the Committee, either through assignment to
a central Support Unit, through inter-agency groups, or by acting
as a lead agency on particular topics.
2. CONTEXT
2.1 Most of JNCC's work on climate change
is discharged by the Inter-Agency Climate Change Group which is
chaired by English Nature. The group's activities include a programme
of scientific research into the impacts of climate change on biodiversity,
the outputs of which are directed towards informing the development
of policies and practical solutions for nature conservation.
2.2 Currently, JNCC's main concern in relation
to global climate change concerns the UK Overseas Territories.
In particular, JNCC is undertaking a collaborative project with
the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (University of
East Anglia) into the implication of climate change for the biodiversity
of the Overseas Territories. The study will commence shortly and
will be carried out by a research student over a three-year period.
2.3 It is anticipated that this project
will make a significant contribution towards the effective implementation
of environmentally sustainable development in the Overseas Territories.
The findings are also likely to be relevant to certain other countries.
3. "IMPLICATION
OF CLIMATE
CHANGE FOR
BIODIVERSITY IN
THE UK OVERSEAS
TERRITORIES": PROJECT
OUTLINE
3.1 The UK Overseas Territories largely
comprise small island ocean states, which together make a significant
contribution to global biodiversity. They also contain ecosystems
that are likely to be highly vulnerable to climate change, as
a consequence of the flooding of coastal habitats due to sea level
rise, coral bleaching due to increased sea surface temperatures,
storms causing widespread destruction, and changes to land-based
systems caused by changes in temperature or rainfall.
3.2 A report co-authored by members of the
Tyndall Centre (The Impacts of Global Climate Change on the
Overseas Territories; report to DFID OUT 2001) examined the
likely impacts of climate change on Anguilla, Montserrat, the
Pitcairn Islands, St Helena, Turks and Caicos, and Tristan da
Cunha. The conclusions were that global climate change could have
severe consequences for human livelihoods, especially through
impacts on coastal systems. However, the consequences for endangered
species and communities were not considered in any detail. Environmental
protection is a critical component of sustainable development,
and the identification of problems and the initiation of appropriate
adaptation measures in relation to biodiversity conservation are,
therefore, of high priority. Moreover, it is envisaged that the
JNCC will need to contribute significantly to this process through
dialogue with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK
Overseas Territories Conservation Forum. The aim of this project
is to inform that dialogue and assist the JNCC in executing its
special functions.
3.3 The most important species and communities
for each of the island Overseas Territories will be reviewed along
with their likely sensitivities to climate change. The species
will include not only those that are likely to be specifically
threatened on each island, but also those that belong to internationally
important assemblages and those that are economically important
and fall under Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) regulation. In each country and for each habitat,
ecological importance, socio-economic importance, threats from
climate change and other threats will be tabulated. This review
will then be used to identify the habitats and areas at greatest
risk from climate change, and consequently the habitats requiring
more detailed research. Where appropriate, as in the case of seabird
colonies, consideration will also be given to global change impacts
on the wider marine environment.
3.4 The next stage will be an intensive
study of a number of key habitats (such as mangroves, coral reefs
and forests) in which the factors affecting the distribution,
quality and species composition of the habitat will be assessed.
This will involve a detailed comparative study across habitats,
where necessary extending to similar countries outside the Overseas
Territories. The objective will be to produce a model predicting
habitat distribution in relation to a range of factors, including
climate.
3.5 The importance for biodiversity of these
habitats will be evaluated along with the wider economic importance
of the biodiversity (e.g. for mangroves: tourism, nursery areas
for fish, water purification, coastal defence; for coral reefs:
fishing, diving tourism, coastal protection; for forests: watershed
protection, forest products, carbon storage). Consideration of
economic factors will enhance the value of the project for sustainable
development.
3.6 The climate change models will then
be combined with the habitat distribution models to predict likely
changes in the distribution and quality of habitats within the
territories, and the potential consequences for biodiversity and
the local economies. This analysis will then be used to suggest
mitigation measures.
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
January 2002
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