Local Biodiversity Action Plan
Local Biodiversity Action Plan Moves to New Premises
The team responsible for the North East of Scotland Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) has moved to its new base at The Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen. Formerly managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and based at the Scottish Agricultural College in Craibstone, the move to The Macaulay Institute comes at the start of a three year plan focused on developing an increased number of new projects in partnership with the Institute. The move looks set to benefit local wildlife by establishing closer links between local conservationists and scientists.
Justin Prigmore, Biodiversity Co-ordinator at LBAP said the move aims to make use of the wealth of expertise and knowledge available at the Institute. He said: This is an exciting opportunity for the LBAP to work with relevant experts in the scientific field to enhance the work carried out by the partnership. I am confident that the LBAP will greatly benefit from the research carried out at the Institute, which will help to guide the work of the LBAP and provide a solid scientific base for the targets and actions of each plan.
The LBAP has been involved in various successful projects in the north east for the last nine years. One such project surveyed rivers to look at the decline of the water vole. This small aquatic rodent is the UK's fastest disappearing mammal, and in a bid to counter the loss of voles, the team employed a full time conservation officer to raise local awareness of its plight, and the threat of predation by the American mink, and to also advise land owners on how to help. Since the inception of the project the long term decline of the water vole in identified key areas has stopped.
Current projects are underway in a number of different habitats, including river banks and surrounding woodland, marine areas and wetland sites, many of which will be supplemented by research from The Macaulay Institute.
Wildlife and Landscape Ecologist at the Macaulay, Dr Pete Dennis said: "We feel that this relocation will increase dialogue with researchers at the Institute who offer a breadth of expertise in ecological, social and geographical sciences. This should generate exciting opportunities to adapt future Scottish Executive-sponsored research to deliver essential ecological information about the habitats and wildlife species of greatest conservation concern to the LBAP Partnership".
The Macaulay Institute is the premier land use research institute in the UK. Two hundred and seventy staff are based at The Macaulay Institute at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. The Macaulay Institute aims to be an international leader in research on the use of rural land resources for the benefit of people and the environment and is involved in research across the globe - from Scotland to Chile and China. More about the Macaulay Institute can be found at www.macaulay.ac.uk
The North East LBAP was created as part of the UK's response to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. The UK committed to the Convention on Biological Diversity along with more than 150 other countries worldwide. The purpose of the North East LBAP is to implement UK biodiversity directives and highlight locally important issues through a partnership with related environmental organisations.
Local Biodiversity Action Plan
The team responsible for the North East of Scotland Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) has moved to its new base at The Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen. Formerly managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and based at the Scottish Agricultural College in Craibstone, the move to The Macaulay Institute comes at the start of a three year plan focused on developing an increased number of new projects in partnership with the Institute. The move looks set to benefit local wildlife by establishing closer links between local conservationists and scientists.
Justin Prigmore, Biodiversity Co-ordinator at LBAP said the move aims to make use of the wealth of expertise and knowledge available at the Institute. He said: This is an exciting opportunity for the LBAP to work with relevant experts in the scientific field to enhance the work carried out by the partnership. I am confident that the LBAP will greatly benefit from the research carried out at the Institute, which will help to guide the work of the LBAP and provide a solid scientific base for the targets and actions of each plan.
The LBAP has been involved in various successful projects in the north east for the last nine years. One such project surveyed rivers to look at the decline of the water vole. This small aquatic rodent is the UK's fastest disappearing mammal, and in a bid to counter the loss of voles, the team employed a full time conservation officer to raise local awareness of its plight, and the threat of predation by the American mink, and to also advise land owners on how to help. Since the inception of the project the long term decline of the water vole in identified key areas has stopped.
Current projects are underway in a number of different habitats, including river banks and surrounding woodland, marine areas and wetland sites, many of which will be supplemented by research from The Macaulay Institute.
Wildlife and Landscape Ecologist at the Macaulay, Dr Pete Dennis said: "We feel that this relocation will increase dialogue with researchers at the Institute who offer a breadth of expertise in ecological, social and geographical sciences. This should generate exciting opportunities to adapt future Scottish Executive-sponsored research to deliver essential ecological information about the habitats and wildlife species of greatest conservation concern to the LBAP Partnership".
The Macaulay Institute is the premier land use research institute in the UK. Two hundred and seventy staff are based at The Macaulay Institute at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. The Macaulay Institute aims to be an international leader in research on the use of rural land resources for the benefit of people and the environment and is involved in research across the globe - from Scotland to Chile and China. More about the Macaulay Institute can be found at www.macaulay.ac.uk
The North East LBAP was created as part of the UK's response to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992. The UK committed to the Convention on Biological Diversity along with more than 150 other countries worldwide. The purpose of the North East LBAP is to implement UK biodiversity directives and highlight locally important issues through a partnership with related environmental organisations.
posted by aboutaberdeen.com at 10:47 AM
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