AHNE Bryniau Clwyd / Clwydian Range AONB

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Biodiversity

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the variety and richness of life forms on earth.

What is a LBAP?

The purpose of the Plan is to protect local wildlife and highlight those habitats and species in the county which are under threat or declining in Denbighshire. It proposes priority action that will halt this decline and bring about recovery. Biodiversity is a global issue requiring local action through joint partnerships with the involvement of the local community and a range of organisations.        

Identifying & Conserving Local Biodiversity

Habitats such as limestone grassland, heathland, woodland and river valleys are special features of the AONB. Limestone grassland is an exceptionally diverse habitat supporting many wild flowers such as cowslip and rockrose, some rare and uncommon such as autumn gentian and orchids. These in their turn support a variety of invertebrates including many butterflies and moths such as the common blue butterfly and the red- spotted burnet moth. 

Heathlands are special places for upland birds such as stonechat, tree pipit, hen harrier and merlin which visit the moors during the spring and summer months to breed. The cry of the curlew was once a familiar sound in the summer before returning to the estuaries to over winter. 

Otters and water voles depend on our waterways; fortunately the otter is beginning to recover from a low population, but water voles are seriously declining not only in the county but nationwide.  Action is needed now to prevent it disappearing altogether.      

The Denbighshire Biodiversity Action Plan currently lists just over 30 priority habitats in Denbighshire, many of which are in the AONB. Some of these are important nationally such as calcareous grassland, heathland, oakwood, upland mixed ashwood, ancient/species rich hedgerows, lowland meadow, grazing marsh, and coastal habitats. However, some are valued more in a local context such as ponds, roadside verges which provide a refuge for wild flowers once common in the adjoining fields, and green spaces in our towns.

Nearly 250 priority species are listed, some of which are also threatened or rapidly declining nationally, for example, pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, lesser horseshoe bat, black grouse, water vole. Amongst the mammals listed are the brown hare, dormouse, otter, water vole, bat species, while lapwing, curlew and yellowhammer are included in the birds. Some amphibians and reptiles are also highlighted along with a range of invertebrates and a large number of wild plants including also mosses, fungi and lichens. For many of these habitats and species individual Action Plans are being produced which will be monitored in order to assess how successful or otherwise conservation action has been.    

Farmland Conservation/ Land management Guidance:
http://www.fwag.org.uk/wales/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/farming/
http://www.gct.org.uk/

General Biodiversity info:
http://flood.nhm.ac.uk/eb//homepage.shtml - Exploring Biodiversity
www.nhm.ac.uk/science/projects/fff/ - Flora Search for your area

International biodiversity
http://www.biodiv.org/ : Convention on Biological Diversity.
http://biodiv.wri.org/ : World Resources Institute — source of biodiversity facts & figures.
http://www.wcmc.org.uk : World Conservation Monitoring Centre (inc. IUCN Red Lists of threatened animals and plants).

Wildlife Gardening
www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk

Sustainable development
www.sustainable-development.gov.uk - biodiversity indicators