1.  INTRODUCTION

  1.1  English Nature is the statutory body responsible for advising both central and local Government on nature conservation and for promoting the wildlife and natural features of England. In fulfilling its duties, English Nature:

—  advises Ministers on the development and implementation of policies for nature conservation;

—  advises Ministers on other policies affecting nature conservation;

—  identifies, notifies and safeguards Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs);

—  establishes, maintains and manages National Nature Reserves;

—  provides guidance and advice on the principles and practice of nature conservation to a wide constituency;

—  commissions and supports research and other projects relevant to nature conservation.

  1.2  Through the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, English Nature works with sister organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to advise Government on UK and international nature conservation issues.

2.  RELATIONS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

  2.1  The Environment Agency is the principal regulator of pollution, abstraction, waste disposal and fisheries management in England and Wales. It also has operational and supervisory responsibilities for flood defence. It has the powers to minimise impacts on wildlife and its habitats, but equally the potential to damage them in its operational role. Its policies and practices are, therefore, central to any programme for conserving wildlife particularly in the freshwater and coastal environment. Under the Environment Act 1995, the Environment Agency has a duty to further conservation and to consult English Nature before authorising or carrying out any activities affecting a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It also has a free-standing duty generally to promote the conservation of flora and fauna dependent on the water environment.

  2.2  English Nature signed a Concordat with the Agency in June 1997. This is supported by a Joint Ventures Programme (JVP), which is reviewed annually. We have drawn up separate Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) covering the development of conservation strategies for river SSSIs and co-operation over research. Under the JVP, we recently signed an MoU on exchange of data and information. We are negotiating an MoU on the Agency's contribution to monitoring SSSIs and European wildlife sites. We have arranged staff secondments in both directions to work on projects of mutual interest.

  2.3  We have developed a good understanding and a close working relationship with the Agency at national level. This has not yet fully spread to the regional and local level, where contacts are mainly with the Agency's conservation staff. Both organisations have recognised this and are working through the JVP to improve contacts with regional and area management and across the Agency as a whole.

3.  PERFORMANCE OF THE AGENCY TOWARDS NATURE CONSERVATION

  3.1  The Agency has an Environmental Strategy which has sustainable development and biodiversity as its two key goals. This gives it a purpose in its regulatory activities in trying to improve the environment for both people and wildlife. The Agency's predecessors (National Rivers Authority, HMIP and waste regulation authorities) had less sense of environmental direction, and the progress made in the two decades before the Agency was formed was, in general, disappointing as far as protection of the environment for wildlife is concerned.

  3.2  Initiatives with English Nature which reflect this new sense of purpose on the part of the Environment Agency include:

—  a joint review of licensed water abstractions affecting SSSIs in England (published October 1999);

—  a programme of schemes and investigations to protect SSSIs from abstraction and sewage discharges to be carried out as part of water company AMP 3 investment programme 2000-2005 (English Nature's proposals for AMP 2 were not included by the NRA);

—  leadership of habitat and species steering groups under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. For instance, under the Habitat' Action Plan for "chalk rivers", we published a joint handbook on Chalk Rivers: Nature Conservation and Management earlier this year;

—  partnership in two major conservation projects which recently received support from the European LIFE Nature Fund and which will run until 2003: Conserving dynamic coastlines; and Safeguarding Natura 2000 rivers in the UK.

  3.3  It is important that biodiversity and sustainability permeate all aspects of the Agency's work. This needs not only to include regulatory areas and flood defence, but also areas such as recreation, navigation and fisheries where the Agency is issuing strategies and position statements this year. In the past, for instance, the Agency proposed the removal of the coarse fishing close season, despite objections from English Nature and many of the national angling associations; this issue is not yet resolved.

  3.4  Until the Environmental Strategy is fully integrated into the Agency's initiatives, it may be desirable for the Agency's most relevant position statements and programmes to undergo a "biodiversity check". The current small staffing in conservation and sustainable development may need to be augmented in the short-term to achieve this objective and to spread the message throughout the Agency.

4.  MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

  4.1  Under The Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations 1994, the Agency is required to review some 80,000 consents and authorisations and assess all new plans and projects affecting Natura 2000 sites, in consultation with English Nature. We have developed joint procedural guidance and involved all the Agency's functional groups in workshops and steering groups. The regulations require the Agency to demonstrate "no adverse effect" on the integrity of a European wildlife site. Previously, there has been a presumption that the Agency and its predecessors could not turn down "reasonable requests" for licences and consents; they would then monitor and report on what happened in the receiving environment. The review exercise involves the full range of the Agency's regulatory staff, and the approach that the Agency is taking to implement the Habitats Regulations was commended as a model for other competent authorities by the House of Lords European Communities Committee in its interim report on Biodiversity in the European Union in July 1999. We look forward to positive gains for wildlife from the Agency's review of consents and authorisations.

  4.2  Water level management plans (WLMPs) are being prepared by the Environment Agency on over 350 SSSIs where it is the "operating authority", as part of a 1994 initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture. The emphasis to date has been on preparation of the plans based on conservation advice from English Nature. The challenge is now to implement the plans so that water levels are managed to benefit wildlife in these statutory sites. This will require resources of time and money and the co-operation of landowners.

  4.3  The draft EC Water Framework Directive is due to be adopted in the near future. This will require statutory river basin plans with measures to bring all waters to "good ecological quality". English Nature is discussing with the Environment Agency exactly what this would mean and how we can ensure that wildlife benefits from the implementation of this Directive.

  4.4  Siltation and enrichment from agricultural run off are recognised as having a significant impact on many of our lakes and rivers; for instance, it has been identified as the number one problem to be addressed for chalk rivers in the BAP steering group report (September 1999). The Environment Agency is running a Landcare project in the Upper Avon catchment (Wiltshire) and is promulgating best practice for farmers. MAFF has also issued Codes of Practice for the protection of soil and water. There is a general acknowledgement that voluntary measures will not be sufficient to tackle this problem, which is mainly caused by ploughing up of grassland. English Nature is carrying out a feasibility study for a Water Protection Zone in a catchment of a river which the Government has submitted to the European Commission as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Water Protection Zones have been on the statute book since the Control of Pollution Act in 1974, but there is a reluctance to use them. We are seeking a partnership with the Agency in developing a solution to the diffuse pollution problem.

  4.5  Regulation of impacts is an essential prerequisite to the achievement of biodiversity goals, but it will not by itself reverse the degradation of the environment that has taken place during this century. A substantial programme of habitat restoration will also be needed. The straightening, deepening and embanking of rivers—which also affected the functioning of floodplains—was carried out for land drainage purposes by predecessor bodies of the Agency. We welcome the start that we have jointly made with other partners by supporting demonstration schemes through the River Restoration Centre. English Nature is now seeking to promote a targeted programme of restoration of rivers and floodplains, especially where agriculture has become less profitable. The Environment Agency would be a key player in any such programme.

  4.6  However, the Agency's various income sources are not apparently available for restoration work. Conservation elements may be tacked on to new flood defence schemes, but this is mitigation rather than restoration. We recommend that the Agency sets up or is given a budget for carrying out practical work under its duty to promote conservation of flora and fauna dependent on the water environment. This should not be confined to rivers and floodplains, but should be extended to restoration of lakes, ponds, estuaries, saltmarsh and other wildlife habitats which have hitherto been relatively neglected.

5.  CONCLUSION

  5.1  English Nature needs the co-operation of the Environment Agency to achieve significant improvements for biodiversity, particularly in the aquatic environment, floodplains and coasts. We welcome the commitment to partnership that the Agency has shown since it was established 3.5 years ago and we support the goals of its Environmental Strategy.

  5.2  Bringing together staff across a range of functions and from different predecessor bodies is not an easy task, particularly when each area retains its statutory functions and separate income streams. The number of joint initiatives listed above shows that co-operation with English Nature and inputs to biodiversity are increasing. Water Resources staff appear to see protection of SSSIs and SACs and co-operation with English Nature as a positive opportunity. Some other parts of the Agency seem slower to take initiative to conserve biodiversity. Greater dialogue is needed generally; by both bodies, at regional and area level. Until the environmental ethic is fully integrated in all the Agency's functions, we recommend that a "biodiversity" check is instituted for major position statements and programmes.

  5.3  We recommend that the Agency sets up or is given a budget for carrying out practical work under its duty to promote conservation of flora and fauna dependent on the water environment. This should be used for a programme of habitat restoration. We understand that the Agency bid for such a budget in its Corporate Plan for 1998-99.

October 1999