Biodiversity Action Plan

The Sustainable Community Strategy for South Somerset seeks to balance the needs and aspirations of present and future generations with those of the natural environment.

In order to ensure that the strategy makes a real and lasting contribution to the ecology of South Somerset, South Somerset Together supported the development of a Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBDAP).

The plan details the variety of species and habitats specific to South Somerset and maps out ways in which they can be encouraged and protected. It looks at what communities value most in their local environment, how scarce resources can be most effectively allocated and how biodiversity issues can be integrated into other plans and policies.

The South Somerset LDAP is part of a countywide plan to protect and encourage biodiversity. It was developed with the involvement of local schools and communities to show how wildlife can be encouraged in environments as small as a hanging basket, to gardens, allotments, farm land and urban green spaces.

The plan looks at habitats as varied as grassland, pasture, woodland, arable land, orchards and heathland to small urban green spaces including gardens. It also looks at specific species including bats, otters and lapwings, with actions to protect both habitats and species by working with landowners to encourage tree planting, better ditch management schemes and nesting areas for bird life.