The EU-RED excludes several land categories, with recognised high biodiversity value, from being used for biofuel production including highly biodiverse grassland, either natural or non-natural.
The plans completely ignore the biodiversity value of the undisturbed soils found in ancient woodland.
Primary forests have a greater carbon and biodiversity value, while secondary forests offer greater flexibility for managing altered landscapes to accommodate both ecosystem health and human well-being.
Unfortunately, the consultation paper, with its three-point plan for estimating biodiversity value that can be completed in 20 minutes, fulfils none of the above.
The continuation of traditional management over several hundred years, involving the harvesting of hay followed by the grazing of the aftermath growth, has maintained the biodiversity value of the site which now receives statutory protection.
On top of the immense biodiversity value of the tropical forests that still stand, they store 250 billion tons of carbon — equivalent to 25 years of current greenhouse gas emissions.
1. Tracking, monitoring & maintenance - initially the scheme was very poorly run & resourced, with small fragmented offsets on private land that were regularly not budgeted for necessary maintenance ie. fenced, weeded etc and offered little in the way of real biodiversity value.
Such cells must be deemed as having high biodiversity value despite the poor present prognosis for their biodiversity content.
Species-rich herbaceous communities, such as prairies, steppes, meadows and pastures, have a high biodiversity value.
A key step toward successful conservation in agricultural areas is maximizing biodiversity value of remaining forest.
Demonstrating the biodiversity value of remnant vegetation can support conservation initiatives in production landscapes.
