Date: 23 September 2006 18:33

BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR 10 YEARS OF BIODIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

A special partnership set up to protect and encourage a wealth of wildlife 
in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will be celebrating 10 years of success 
at a birthday party on Tuesday.

 The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Biodiversity Partnership has spent a 
decade protecting and promoting local wildlife through the implementation of 
biodiversity action plans.

 Over the last 10 years the Partnership has developed and worked to 
implement 45 Biodiversity Action Plans (BAP), with more than 400 individual 
actions.

Decision makers, supporters, funders, partners are invited for a morning of 
presentations and discussion and an afternoon site visit to the idyllic 
Local Nature Reserve Byron's Pool near Grantchester. There the birthday Cake 
will be waiting to be cut by former Partnership Chair Donna Radley, now 
English Nature's local and regional Biodiversity Coordinator.

The highlights of 10 years work will be showcased in presentations at the 
celebration: The Biological Records Centre in Cambourne was established in 
2005 and encourages everybody to feed in wildlife records, so we can get a 
better understanding of what we have in the county.

A water vole project running for two years from 2004-2006 has informed us 
that the Cambridgeshire Fens hold a scattered but substantial concentration 
of Water voles which is of national importance. Since 2005 a Fenland 
Drainage Ditch Officer has been promoting wildlife sensitive ditch 
management which is helping water voles in the fens.

As farming has a big impact in our rural landscape the Biodiversity 
Partnership produced a Biodiversity Pack for farmers, a set of factsheets 
explaining how to best manage different habitats for wildlife and how to ge 
grants for doing this.

The Partnership also influences the planning system to promote best practice 
and produced checklists for planners in 2001. A bold 50 year wildlife vision 
map, produced in 2002, shows opportunities for habitat creation and was 
incorporated in the structure plan.

 Cambridgeshire County Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for 
Environment and Community Services, said: "It's amazing how much has been 
achieved in these 10 years. I have only joined the partnership in January 
2006 and I am really impressed with its work. We will use the celebration 
not only to look back but also to look forward into the next 10 years. We 
will ask delegates' input into our vision for the next 10 years. One of our 
aims is that biodiversity is enjoyed and valued by everybody in 
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough."

In the afternoon, a guided tour round Byron's Pool, a Cambridge Local Nature 
Reserve will round off the celebration. Delegates will meet a group of 
volunteers working on the reserve with Ellis Selway, Community Reserves 
Officer for Cambridge City and Iain Webb, City Greenways Project, before 
enjoying birthday cake, tea and coffee together. Byron's Pool is featuring 
biodiversity on the ground. Different habitats - a woodland with several 
springs, 6 ponds and a small marsh and wet meadow area are close to each 
other.

The partnership is made up of local authorities, statutory environmental 
agencies and conservation organizations.

The Biodiversity Partnership includes all Cambridgeshire's local 
authorities, Peterborough City Council, English Nature, the Environment 
Agency, Forestry Commission, the RSPB, RuralDevelopment Service and the 
Wildlife Trust. It works to promote the conservation of the county's species 
and habitats.

John Reynolds