A Business as Usual approach to biodiversity assumes that nature can endlessly repair itself and that humankind can exist fairly independently and in control of natural systems. It also assumes that biodiversity is something that happens in reserves and parks, not in our everyday lives. New developments in the area make no space for wildlife, and farmers, driven by Government subsidies to grow as much food as possible, take back out all the hedgerows and other conservation measures put in over the 80s and 90s, in order to maximise production. This results in sharp declines in water quality, pollution and wildlife.

The extensive impact of the loss of this diversity is largely ignored, while research intensifies into genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to replace lost species. Little remains of native woodland and landscape features like hedgerows. The push for greater national food security meant that nature conservation became seen as an expendable luxury. The increased acidification of soils due to leaching and lack of earthworms leaves them sterile and exposed to severe erosion.

The bee population is severely damaged and growers have to pollinate food plants by hand. Few people use nature walks for pleasure, nature is something people watch on television, rather than experience firsthand. The sharp decline in the bird populations mean that the dawn chorus becomes more of a solo performance; people compensate by downloading tracks of birdsong onto their IPods.

Bees on Their Knees (© Jenny Band)

If we are willing to change or make a Plan B on the other hand, this would need to be based on the following principles;

• A recognition by the planning system that protecting and enhancing biodiversity is an essential function of any development.
• Full habitat protection is afforded to any species threatened with major population losses and/or extinction
• The production of food and the protection and enhancement of biodiversity are not mutually exclusive, any form of food production that takes place on any scale must do both. We must embody the idea that biodiversity is not just a conservation strategy, but a production strategy too.
• Policies at all levels, from local authorities to national and international governance, must be realigned to enhance the health and viability of eco-cultural systems.
• Increasing understanding of the importance of biodiversity.
• Broadening awareness of the fragility of ecosystems.
• Increasing the protection afforded to biodiversity & enabling it to flourish.
• Increasing the number and size of wildlife havens.
• Supporting a plan that protects the marine environment and fish stocks.
• Ensuring a full consideration and prioritisation for sustaining biodiversity with the implications of the impacts of global warming and sea level rise.

What follows is one version of how biodiversity might become more localised and sustainable over the next 21 years.

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