Action plan for the next century, endorsed at the Earth Summit.

Schemes offering payments to farmers to promote farming compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside under EC Regulation 2078/92. Schemes applicable in all countries of the UK are Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Countryside Access Scheme, Organic Aid Scheme, Habitat Scheme and the Moorland Scheme. Nitrate Sensitive Areas and Countryside Stewardship are applicable in England only and Tir Cymen in Wales only.

The EC system of arable support which offers payments per hectare on the main cereal, oilseed and protein crops. All farmers, apart from those with small amounts of land, have to set land aside to receive the payments.

The variety of life on Earth or any given part of it.

The Convention on Biological Diversity. This Convention was signed by the Prime Minister and 150 other Heads of State or Governments at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

Major parts of the Earth's surface, including its seas and oceans, characterised by distinctive assemblages of plants and animals.

A European Community-wide policy, explicitly provided for in the founding treaty of the Community, which supports agriculture through commodity support measures and market management and through measures to improve agricultural structures.

An agri-environment scheme which enables farmers and land managers in England to enter 10-year management agreements to maintain or enhance certain landscapes and features including chalk and limestone grassland; lowland heath; waterside land; coast; uplands; historic landscapes; old traditional orchards; old meadows and pastures; community forests; the countryside around towns and throughout England hedgerows and field boundaries which need restoring. The scheme, which was set up and administered by the Countryside Commission, completed its five-year pilot phase in April 1996 when administration transferred to MAFF.

Sites identified by Wildlife Trusts as being of at least county significance for their wildlife habitats or species populations. Landowners, local authorities, and others are encouraged to enter them into protective management agreements, and local authorities are also encouraged to steer harmful development away from them through their recognition in local planning policies.

Endemic

Only occurs in that area. i.e. endemic to South West England means that it occurs no where else in the world.

An agri-environment scheme, run by agricultural departments designed to promote traditional farming practices to protect and enhance the environment. The scheme operates in 43 designated areas of the UK where farmers and other land managers can enter into 10-year agreements to manage their land in designated ways to maintain and restore particular landscapes and habitats.

Nutrient enrichment resulting in an imbalance of the normal flora and fauna associated with the area.

A reserve declared and managed by a local authority under the terms of the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. LNRs are usually declared on land which has some actual or potential wildlife interest in a local context, and which is well suited to public access and interpretation.

A reserve declared under law and managed either by one of the statutory nature conservation agencies or by an approved body.

Designated in England and Wales under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 for the purpose of preserving and enhancing the natural beauty of areas specified by reason of their natural beauty and the opportunity they afford for open-air recreation.

These biographic zones reflect the geological foundation, the natural systems and processes and the wildlife in different parts of England, and provide a framework for setting objectives for nature conservation.

A site designated by the UK Government under EC Directive 92/43 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

A site designated under Article 4 of EC Directive 79/409 on the conservation of wild birds. Together SACs and SPAs form a network of European sites known as Natura 2000.

An area of land notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as being of special nature conservation interest. The SSSI designation applies in England, Wales and Scotland. In Northern Ireland sites are known as ASSIs. Sites are notified by the appropriate country conservation agency.

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Includes former county of Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and the Isles of Scilly.

Those species on the short, medium, and long lists of the UK Biodiversity Steering Group Report (1995) and those South West species listed in the regional audit.

Sites designated under the Ramsar Convention on the Conservation of Wetlands of International importance.

A scheme run by English Nature for owners and managers whose reserves have SSSI status to encourage positive management for wildlife and public access to allow appreciation and understanding of nature conservation.

A non-statutory term applied to lengths of coastline which hold rich marine wildlife communities, where action is taken to safeguard these features and promote local and general public appreciation and understanding of them.

A scheme run by English Nature for SSSI owners and occupiers to encourage positive land management for wildlife or geology.