National Projects

THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS' BIODIVERSITY BENCHMARK

Why have a Biodiversity Benchmark?

Organisations throughout the UK own or manage vast amounts of land. Eighty-one companies own or manage 65,800 hectares of SSSI land in England, 6 per cent of the total SSSI land in England (source English Nature December 2003). The impact these organisations and organisations managing any land can have on biodiversity is tremendous. The Biodiversity Benchmark was established to engage with these organisations to encourage better land management practices.

What is the Biodiversity Benchmark?

The Biodiversity Benchmark is the first recognised scheme to award continual biodiversity improvement of land. The Benchmark is flexible and adaptable, so that it can be applied to any organisation managing land, from businesses through to local authorities, service utilities, NHS, developers and charities.

Similar to other standards for management systems (such as ISO 14001), the Biodiversity Benchmark is composed of a set of detailed requirements to which an organisation must be able to demonstrate that it meets. The Benchmark integrates biodiversity into an organisation and improve biodiversity improvement as a result.

The process

The organisation completes a self-assessment form to demonstrate performance in relation to the Biodiversity Benchmark requirements. This is followed by initial assessment/visit(s) by a trained independent assessor who examines documents (the biodiversity management system), talks to staff involved and assesses the landholding/s to be benchmarked. The assessor highlights and raises any issued to be addressed by the organisation. Once the organisation believes these issues have been addressed, the assessor will then return to conduct a main assessment. The assessor’s recommendations are checked and confirmed by a Quality Assurance Auditor before a Biodiversity Benchmark is awarded and becomes subject to annual external assessments.

The Biodiversity Benchmark assessors all work within Wildlife Trusts’ consultancies. These members of staff have undertaken a specific training course to provide them with the necessary auditing skills required for the Benchmark scheme. Consultancies involved include : Chalkhill Environmental Consultants Ltd, Surrey Wildlife Trust Consultancy and Middlemarch Environmental Ltd. These three consultancies all have a trained Biodiversity Benchmark Assessor, however, other consultancies are able to benefit from helping their client organisations prepare for the Biodiversity Benchmark assessment process.

For more information please visit www.biodiversitybenchmark.org