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A GEODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN FOR SUFFOLK T. HOLT-WILSON It is easy to overlook geodiversity, although it is frequently staring us in the face: the rocks, soils, landforms and landscape-forming processes that make up the substrate for all living things, including human life. Geodiversity is a term for these non-biological aspects of nature (excluding climate). It is an unfamiliar term, but one which is being used with increasing frequency in the worlds of nature conservation and planning policy.

While biodiversity conservation is well advanced in Britain, with a national Biodiversity Action Plan co-ordinating Local Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs), Habitat Action Plans and Species Recovery Programmes, forming a “torrent of effort being put into the management of biodiversity” (Jerie et al., 2001, in Gray, 2004), geodiversity conservation has until lately been the poor relation. Although geological and geomorphological conservation has a long history, its importance has not always been recognised by the wider nature conservation community nor the public (Gray, 2004).

Furthermore what we might call earth heritage’s ‘community of interest’ has lagged behind that of wildlife in its designation of local reserves: the RIGS scheme for conserving local geo-sites is not yet extended across the United Kingdom (UKRIGS, 2006). In Suffolk, over 880 County Wildlife Sites but only 7 RIGS have been designated.

However, the linkage between geodiversity and biodiversity is being more explicitly recognised and promoted at a national level (English Nature, 2004).

The Natural Areas concept developed by English Nature in the 1990s as a strategic, landscape-scale approach to nature conservation has geodiversity at its core by defining 97 terrestrial Areas based on rocks, soils and landforms (English Nature, 1998). Geodiversity is also contributing to landscape conservation, which is currently being integrated into the planning system through the Landscape Character Types concept which places human settlement and land-use patterns into their context of rock types, soils and landforms (Landscape Character Network, 2007). Recently, English Nature, the Countryside Agency and DEFRA’s Rural Development Service have jointly published Natural Foundations: geodiversity for people, places and nature as a step towards an integrated approach to environmental conservation, management and enhancement, by linking biodiversity, landscape and human life (Stace & Larwood, 2006).

This integrated approach is reflected in the Local Geodiversity Action Plans (LGAPs) concept, first proposed by English Nature in 2001 and modelled on the successful BAP format. The idea was to move away from the exclusively site-based focus of traditional geo-conservation towards seeing geodiversity in its living context (Stace & Larwood, ibid). The LGAP process is now gathering momentum across Britain. At present, 27 LGAPs have been launched or are in development, covering areas such as counties and AONBs, and at least three mineral aggregate companies are preparing GAPs of their own. A National GAP is currently at drafting stage, to provide a national framework for geodiversity conservation.

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The LGAP process has lately received a boost in planning policy guidance at a national level. The role of RIGS and other geo-sites in meeting nature conservation objectives has recently been clarified and enhanced. Planning Policy Statement 9 states that local authorities should give ‘appropriate weight’ to designated sites of local as well as national importance and to geological interests within the wider environment (ODPM, 2005). The DEFRA advisory publication Local Sites: Guidance on their identification, selection and management recognises the role of LGAPs in delivering and promoting geological conservation objectives, and recommends that local authorities should take the lead in establishing and maintaining partnerships and systems to identify and manage local nature conservation sites (DEFRA, 2006). Such Local Sites may include RIGS as well as County Wildlife Sites.

Figure 1. A Suffolk RIGS A boulder of Spilsby Sandstone at Needham Market, c. TM093548. This is a glacial erratic brought from Lincolnshire as part of the bed load of an ice sheet of presumed Anglian age, c. 450,000 years ago. It is thought to have been uncovered during past sand and gravel extraction at the site. Spilsby Sandstone is a hard, sedimentary rock of Lower Cretaceous age (c. 140 million years BP), rich in fossils such as ammonites and bivalves.

This boulder has been designated as a RIGS (Regionally Important Geological / Geomorphological Site) in agreement with the site’s owners, Mid-Suffolk District Council. It is an excellent example of a glacial erratic at a publicly-accessible location (Needham Lake recreation area).

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In 2004 the GeoSuffolk group received a grant from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, via English Nature, to develop geodiversity conservation and interpretation work in Suffolk (Holt-Wilson, 2005). This work was carried out in partnership with Ipswich Borough Council Museums and Galleries, as the museum in the High Street has the most important collection of Suffolk geological specimens in the county. Work involved a) investigating and updating information for sites of geological and geomorphological interest in the county, and b) interpreting the wealth of evidence for Suffolk’s Pleistocene wildlife through a Suffolk Mammoth Trail concept. As a result, some 84 geosites out of a total of 154 targeted sites were recorded, and interpretive panels were set up at seven publicly-accessible sites around the county and backed up by a leaflet. The site recording initiative built upon earlier work by GeoSuffolk as part of the RIGS scheme, which aims to identify local sites of geological and geomorphological importance and conserve them in agreement with landowners. Such sites may include: 1. denotified SSSIs; 2. sites of geological significance identified from 19th and 20th century research; 3. sites where evidence for Palaeolithic human life has been found; 4. areas with significant landforms or characteristic assemblages of landforms (geotopes); 5. sites with outstanding educational value, including accessibility.

Like the designation process for County Wildlife Sites, potential RIGS are assessed and chosen according to objective criteria.

In March 2006 English Nature provided funding for GeoSuffolk to write a draft LGAP for Suffolk. This aimed to create a framework for general discussion about and action towards conserving and enhancing Suffolk’s geodiversity, particularly regarding sites outside the SSSI network. This draft LGAP document proposed five aims: 1. To carry out a geodiversity audit for Suffolk The LGAP would continue the geo-sites recording work carried out in 2004/05, and would audit other geo-resources in the county, such as museum collections and sources of specialist information.

2. To carry out geodiversity conservation and management The LGAP would identify outstanding geo-sites with needs for conservation and management; would raise the profile of target geo-sites among land owners and managers; secure positive management of such sites and monitor the ongoing needs of other sites; continue the RIGS designation process; support the conservation and management of other selected geo-resources; secure funding for geodiversity work; would develop voluntary labour resources for geo-conservation.

3. To promote geodiversity in policy and practice The LGAP would seek to embed geodiversity conservation in local authority plans, development frameworks and agencies, and in the policies and practice of other organisations; would submit designated RIGS to planners; would have planning applications reviewed for their impacts on geodiversity.

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4. To promote geodiversity awareness The LGAP would promote geodiversity understanding and awareness among the public using a range of media; would promote geodiversity to local communities and the education sector; would promote geo-tourism initiatives.

5. To sustain the LGAP process The LGAP would seek to create a partnership of interests to agree and deliver a definitive Suffolk Geodiversity Action Plan, including evaluation and review procedures. It would also explore future options for expanding the project such as an East Anglian regional GAP. In March 2007 Natural England provided funding for GeoSuffolk to implement some of the objectives of the draft LGAP, in particular: 1. continuing the geo-site recording work (part of aim 1 above); 2. continuing the conservation and interpretation work at targeted geo-sites (part of aim 2); 3. beginning in-depth work with local authority agencies regarding embedding geodiversity conservation in their plans and policies (part of aim 3); 4. developing a Geo-Suffolk website (part of aim 4); 5. laying the foundations for a Suffolk Geodiversity Partnership (part of aim 5).

To give an example of work undertaken to date, the present writer has been working on embedding geodiversity conservation in local authority plans and policies. An opportunity has recently arisen through the public consultation process for the new Suffolk Minerals and Waste Local Development Framework. In partnership with Natural England Suffolk Team, the text of the Core Strategy and Site Specific Allocations documents have been examined and recommendations made to clarify and strengthen the way that geodiversity conservation is represented in them. For example: 1. making explicit the equivalence between RIGS and County Wildlife Sites as categories of Local Sites; 2. recommending that the after-use of mineral sites should include provision of one or more reference sections for scientific study, with agreed access arrangements; 3. citation of national, regional and local policy documents relevant to geodiversity, including the draft Suffolk LGAP; 4. explaining that Local Sites of geodiversity importance have differing levels of vulnerability which require different conservation strategies; 5. adding information about the likely geodiversity significance of proposed mineral extraction sites.

The LGAP process is central to developing and co-ordinating geodiversity conservation and awareness in the county, and will need to be taken forward by a Suffolk Geodiversity Partnership. While there is already such a Partnership in place in Norfolk, Suffolk is still at the draft stage. The GeoSuffolk group warmly welcomes expressions of interest from

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organisations and individuals wishing to comment on, take part in the development of, and drive forward a Geodiversity Action Plan for the county.

For further information about the Suffolk Geodiversity Action Plan process and the GeoSuffolk group (including the Suffolk Mammoth Trail and local geodiversity leaflets) please contact Bob Markham, Chair of GeoSuffolk (01394 384525, bobmark@ukonline.co.uk), or Tim Holt-Wilson, Geodiversity Officer (01379 870411, timholtwilson@onetel.com).

References DEFRA (2006). Local Sites. Guidance on their identification, selection and management. Department for Food and Rural Affairs.

English Nature (1998). Natural Areas: nature conservation in context (CDROM). Peterborough.

English Nature (1999). Natural Areas in the East of England Region. Helping to set the regional agenda for nature. Peterborough.

English Nature (2004). Linking Geology and Biodiversity. Peterborough: English Nature Research Report, No. 562.

Gray, M. (2004). Geodiversity - valuing and conserving abiotic nature. Wiley, Chichester.

Holt-Wilson, T. D. (2005). A new approach to Earth Heritage Conservation in Suffolk - The Suffolk Geodiversity Project. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 41: 2– 5.

Landscape Character Network (2007). East of England. Viewed 7 June 2007. http://www.landscapecharacter.org.uk/db/east.html ODPM (2005). Planning Policy Statement 9 – biodiversity and geological conservation. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Stace, H. & Larwood, J. (2006). Natural Foundations: geodiversity for people, places and nature. English Nature, Peterborough.

UKRIGS (2006). UKRIGS Development Strategy 2006–2010. The Association of UK RIGS Groups.

Tim Holt-Wilson 1 The Avenue Upper Oakley Diss IP21 4AY

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