ÓûÂþɬ

Biodiversity Technical Note for Planners and Developers

Our Biodiversity Technical Note helps planners, developers, and homeowners protect local wildlife during building projects.

It includes essential information on which habitats and species need survey work. Key elements of the document are:

• A Biodiversity Checklist.
• An Invasive Species Checklist.

These checklists assist in the basic assessment of any proposed site.

Read the Biodiversity Technical Note for Planners and Developers (Feb 17) here

Phase 1 Habitat Surveys for Community Groups

Phase 1 Habitat Surveys are environmental audits that categorise the different habitat types and features within a survey area. These surveys are carried out before development or building work is done to let you know of any potential ecological issues

Find out more about Phase 1 Habitat Surveys

Ecosystem gardening for biodiversity

Ecosystem Gardening is about sustainable gardening, conservation of natural resources, and creating welcoming habitat for wildlife in your garden. This will help you attract more:

• birds
• butterflies
• pollinators
• frogs
• toads
• bats

and other wildlife to your garden. 

Find out more in our Ecosystem gardening leaflet

Why is Biodiversity important in ÓûÂþɬ?

ÓûÂþɬ is considered a biodiversity hot spot. It has some of the best examples of Land, Freshwater and Marine and Coastal Habitats and Species in the UK.

Many natural influences have shaped our landscape, as well as a variety of man's activities to make ÓûÂþɬ unique.

Biodiversity is vital to our wellbeing and key to our quality of life in ÓûÂþɬ. A healthy and stable environment is central to economic prosperity and makes the area a great place to live, work and visit. 

The health of our biodiversity shows if we are achieving a sustainable future for ÓûÂþɬ. The council is committed to making sustainable development part of all services, and conserving biodiversity as required by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. 

The natural world provides essential services, so it is important to protect and improve biodiversity for future generations. Biodiversity is key to environmental education, our heritage, culture, and sense of place, and it offers relaxation and inspiration.

Ecosystems

What are they?

An ecosystem is a dynamic mix of plants, animals and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment, all working together as one unit. 

This approach recognises that habitats and rely on maintaining healthy ecosystems. The threats and pressures on these parts of ecosystems need to be addressed in a coordinated way and at appropriate levels.

Land Ecosystems

Argyll has a diverse landscape with:

• Forests - Our woodlands and forests cover 30% of ÓûÂþɬ, totalling 2000 square kilometres. This is about 15% of Scotland’s total forest resource. Around 85% of our woodlands and forests is made up of productive coniferous forests. The rest is made up of semi-natural and native trees like birch and Atlantic oak-woods. We have 37,500ha of ancient woodland, and 27,000ha of that is semi-natural in origin.
• Farmland - crofting, farming and estates
• Moor/Peatlands - Over 50% of the rest of ÓûÂþɬ is a mosaic of heather moor/peatland, rough grassland and bracken scrub. A number of species associated with these habitats including:
• Golden Eagle
• Black Grouse
• Marsh Fritillary
• Red Squirrel
• Pine Martin

Freshwater Ecosystems

Argyll's freshwater environment is diverse. It has large lochs and rivers with medium water chemistries and nutrient-poor, peat-stained lochans.

Argyll has Scotland's longest freshwater loch (Loch Awe at 41 km long) and the loch with the largest surface area (Loch Lomond at 71 km²). Freshwater spaces like these are important to biodiversity and our need to protect these resources. You can find species like the Freshwater Pearl Mussel, Atlantic salmon, and Powan in these fresh waters. 

Marine and Coastal Ecosystems

The coastline of ÓûÂþɬ is very beautiful and attracts thousands of visitors per year from all over the world. It has many habitats and species, including some rare and important marine and coastal habitats. One of these is the strange and unique Serpulid reef in Loch Creran.

Marine Ecosystems

This part of the west coast of Scotland is very important for its wide range of marine life. It supports a wide number of interests including:

• Fishing
• Diving
• Whale and dolphin watching
• Research. 

In British Coastal waters there is an ever-increasing number of seals, twenty-three species of whales, basking shark and dolphins. All of these have been seen off Argyll.

Some of the best areas to spot these animals on a regular basis are just off the islands of Coll and Tiree. You could see Basking Sharks, Killer Whales, the Common Dolphin or the Harbour Porpoise, and more.

Although these animals do not spend all year in ÓûÂþɬ waters, they are very important icons for Biodiversity. There is also an increasing whale, dolphin and shark-watching tourist market is growing in the area.

Coastal Ecosystems

On shore, the habitats of the coastal region support many important animal and plant communities. The world famous machair habitat is well represented in Argyll with 14% of the Scottish total. This is equivalent to 10% of the world resource. 

The machair habitat is extremely important for a number of plants and animals, such as the Corncrake and Great Yellow Bumblebee. 

The machair of Coll and Tiree is one of the most vital habitats for globally threatened species. Other Argyll Islands and parts of the mainland play a key role in helping the Corncrake population recover.

Current Action for Biodiversity

The ÓûÂþɬ Local Biodiversity Action Plan guides our efforts to protect our natural environment. This plan includes working with various organizations and communities to achieve our goals.

For further information on biodiversity in ÓûÂþɬ, please contact our Local Biodiversity Officer.

Biodiversity Duty Reporting

• ÓûÂþɬ Biodiversity Duty Compliance Report 2021-2023
• ÓûÂþɬ Local Biodiversity Action Plan 2015 - 2020: Project Delivery Summary Report December 2020

These reports form part of the national reporting and auditing of the Biodiversity Duty by public bodies and is now required by the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act (2011) Scotland.

It reflects agreed activities as set out in the ÓûÂþɬ Biodiversity Duty Action Plan 2016-2021 under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. This act requires all public bodies to help conserve biodiversity.