IW BAP: Vision and objectives

Our objective

"The Island should be a place where plants, animals and habitats are conserved and enhanced, both for their own sake and as an integral part of our quality of life”.

The principal aim of the Isle of Wight Biodiversity partnership, in line with national guidance, is to maintain , restore and, where feasible, re-create the nationally and locally important priority habitats we possess and the species which depend upon them.

The Island is like a miniature version of south east England and has its fair share of the habitats characteristic of the region. In fact, it is unusually rich in species and habitats compared to similar areas on the mainland. The chalk grassland of the downs, the cliffs and slopes of the coasts and the estuaries are all important on a national and international scale.

Through the Partnership, we monitor our progress in achieving the following objectives within each habitat and report annually on success and failures.

Coastal

By 2015 we aim to:

Maintain around 50km of free functioning maritime cliffs and slopes.
Restore 1km of currently constrained maritime cliffs and slopes.

Wetlands

By 2015 we aim to:

Maintain the current extent and improve the condition of c 558ha of floodplain & grazing marsh
Maintain the current extent and improve the condition of c 152ha of reedbeds
Create 20ha of additional reedbed habitat
Maintain the current extent and improve the condition of c 87ha of fen habitat

Chalk Grassland

By 2015 we aim to:

Maintain around 650ha of chalk grassland.
Restore 85% of currently degraded chalk grassland.
Recreate chalk grassland from arable and species–poor grassland on chalk.

Estuaries

By 2015 we aim to:

Maintain around 1050ha of estuarine habitats (mudflats, saltmarsh, sand dune, vegetated shingle and saline lagoons).
Where possible, recreate estuarine habitats by coastal re-alignment.

Heathland and Acid Grassland

By 2015 we aim to:

Maintain around 190ha of acid grassland/heathland mosaic.
Restore 85% of currently degraded acid grassland/ heathland mosaic.
Recreate acid grassland/ heathland mosaic from suitable waste mineral sites.

Lowland Meadows

By 2015 we aim to:

Maintain around 220ha of unimproved flower-rich meadows.
Restore 85% of currently degraded meadows and recreate flower-rich meadows from arable and species-poor grassland.

Woodland

By 2015 we aim to:

Protect all ancient woodland (around 1640ha).
Manage and restore 85% of this resource.
Restore unmanaged or inappropriately managed semi-natural broad-leaved woodland and recreate semi-natural broad-leaved woodland from arable and species-poor grassland.

Other Habitats

We also have other important intertidal and subtidal habitats. We need to ensure their long-term wellbeing and survival against the background of sea level rise, but at this stage we have not set ourselves targets for achieving these aims.

A summary of the Targets and Actions from all of the Habitat Action Plans is available here.