Integration of Conservation Strategies of Plant Genetic ... - Genres

Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources in the United Kingdom within and without habitats
R.D. SMITH 1
Conservation within habitats
The UK has a statutory framework of protection for important sites and threatened species.
At the international level; the "Bern" Convention on the conservation of European Wildlife and Natural
Habitats and the EC Habitats and Species Directive (92/43/EEC) are of the greatest significance for
plants.
At the national level, the UK has a long tradition of statutes to protect wildlife in situ starting in 1880
with the Wild Birds Act. Much of this legislation has been brought together and strengthened by the
Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 and the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern
Ireland) Order 1985. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 reorganised the way nature conservation
is delivered in Great Britain by creating separate agencies for England, Scotland and Wales.
The country agencies, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Department of the Environment
(Northern Ireland) and the Countryside Council for Wales have among their duties the notifying of land
of special interest for its wildlife, geological and natural features, and for managing National Nature
Reserves. Through their Joint Nature Conservation Committee they provide a collective view on
international matters and those questions which affect the UK as a whole. Together the agencies
received £ 138 million in the current year.
The voluntary movement plays a conspicuous part, often owning and managing both National Nature
Reserves and Sites or Areas of Special Scientific Interest. The National Trust is the largest private
landowner in Britain and has wildlife conservation as an essential aim. The RSNC Wildlife Trust
Partnership is the major voluntary organisation in the UK and has at its core 47 local Wildlife Trusts and
50 Urban Wildlife groups, a total membership of over 250,000 who own and manage over 2,000 nature
reserves. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds also has reserves, within which wildlife other
than birds can also benefit.
Methods used for the Conservation of Biological Diversity within habitats
Many plants have widely dispersed populations. They are not generally amenable to site based
conservation but instead require the retention of such features of the wider countryside as hedges,
copses, ponds and flushes. Sympathetic land management is important to the conservation of these
widely dispersed species.
1
Author´s address:
The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Wakehurst Place
Ardingly
Nr. Haywards Heath
West Sussex RH17 6TN
United Kingdom