Background to the inquiry
1. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are
Britain's most important areas for wildlife and geology. English
Nature (EN), which designates and monitors SSSIs in England, describes
the sites as "the jewels of England's natural heritage".[1]
Responsibility for SSSIs in Scotland and Wales is devolved.[2]
This report is concerned only with SSSIs in England.
2. A Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for SSSIs
was set in 2000 for the then- Department for Environment, Transport
and the Regions. The target now appears as part of Defra's Target
3 "[to] care for our natural heritage, make the countryside
attractive and enjoyable for all, and preserve biological diversity
by … bringing into favourable condition by 2010 95% of all
nationally important wildlife sites".[3]
The target was subsequently amended to achieving favourable or
recovering condition in 95% of sites, to reflect the fact
that many ecological features would take a long time to recover
even if all the measures necessary for recovery were in place.[4]
Defra explained that:
95% means 95% of the total area of SSSI land
in England, including land covered by water. This could be said
to give undue emphasis to large-scale open habitats such as moorland,
as opposed, for example, to linear habitats such as cliffs or
rivers. However, English Nature aims to achieve the 95% figure
for each of the broad habitat types.[5]
3. The target was set using estimates of SSSI condition
that later proved to be too optimistic.[6]
In April 2003, when all SSSIs had been assessed, only 56.9% of
SSSI land was meeting the target.[7]
This means that the Government faces more of a challenge in meeting
the target than it had realised. Nevertheless, in its 2003 Annual
Report, the Department said that it was "on course"
to meet the target. EN believes that the target is "challenging
but achievable".[8]
4. Since the PSA target has proved more challenging
than at first expected, we decided to undertake an inquiry examining
the Government's and EN's policies and actions supporting it.
Our terms of reference were:
The Committee will examine progress made towards
achieving Defra's Public Service Agreement (PSA) target that by
2010 95% of all nationally important wildlife sites should be
in 'favourable condition'. It will examine the role played by
various agencies in meeting the target, including especially English
Nature and local authorities, and will determine what changes
are need to ensure that the target will be met.
5. We received 21 memoranda and took oral evidence
from: the Association of National Park Authorities; the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds; the Association of Local
Government Ecologists, who also represented the Local Government
Association; the Country Land and Business Association; English
Nature; and Mr Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister for Nature Conservation
and Fisheries, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
We are most grateful to all our witnesses.
Importance
of Sites of Special Scientific Interest
6. Defra says :
SSSIs help to conserve and protect the best of
England's wildlife, geological and physiographical heritage for
the benefit of present and future generations. The series of sites
is, as a whole, intended to encompass the full range of the country's
natural and semi-natural habitats.[9]
7. There are 4,113 SSSIs in England, covering 1,055,000
hectares, which is about 7% of the country. Up to 60% of the area
covered by SSSIs is owned or managed by Government, public bodies
or private companies that have statutory conservation responsibilities,
such as water and sewerage companies. The rest is in private ownership.
A high proportion of SSSIs is on agricultural land.
8. Despite their unique value, not all SSSIs have
been well maintained. The baseline for the proportion of SSSI
land on target, established in April 2003, was 56.9% of the total
area, but by the time of the publication of EN's condition report
in December 2003, the figure stood at 58.3%.[10]
According to EN's website, in April 2004 the overall figure for
land meeting the target had risen to nearly 63%, which comprises
nearly 46% in favourable condition and 17% in unfavourable recovering
condition.[11]
9. SSSIs represent
a vital part of our natural heritage. The way we look after them
serves as a barometer for the way in which we care for our natural
environment. We welcome the Government's target of bringing 95%
of sites into favourable condition by 2010 and urge the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to be entirely realistic,
and not complacent, about what will be needed to meet the target.
1 Ev 42 [English Nature] Back
2
Ev 56 [Defra] Back
3
Ev 57 [Defra] Back
4
Ev 57 [Defra] Back
5
Ev 57 [Defra] Back
6
Q144 Back
7
Ev 43 [English Nature] Back
8
England's best wildlife and geological sites, English Nature,
2003 Back
9
Ev 56 [Defra] Back
10
Ev 58 [Defra] Back
11
www.english-nature.org.uk Back
