132 - Salisbury Plain and West Wiltshire Downs : Detailed Statements of Environmental Opportunity

This section expands on the Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity and provides further detail on each of the Statements of Environmental Opportunity.

SEO 1

SEO 1: Protect, manage and enhance the landscape of large areas of calcareous chalk grassland, and develop network connectivity, supporting internationally important and designated semi-natural habitats and species assemblages – from birds to bumblebees – and thus support biodiversity.

For example by:

• Seeking to improve the sustainability of land management practices, for example by encouraging experimentation in working to increase seasonal pasture and reduce dependence on chemical inputs, in the interests of improving soil and water quality.
• Learning from the work done, including that carried out upstream from this National Character Area (NCA), for the benefit of the biodiversity
  of the River Avon system, and the effects on soil structure and soil and water quality, and spreading any relevant good practice through workshops for land managers.
• Pursuing and collaborating where possible with partners, for example the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, on any relevant research into bee health and welfare in the light of colony concerns in the early 21st century, and learning from lottery-funded work on the development of flower-rich grassland for the benefit of (primarily) the shrill carder bee, a feature of the Plain, to assist biodiversity and pollination.
• Surveying grassland flora diversity to identify specific areas of concern and scope for further work, and fostering grassland restoration projects where possible, for example in conjunction with the RSPB Futurescapes project and ‘Stepping Stones’, led by the two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• Considering the historical significance of boundaries in the context of
  re-creating network connectivity and wildlife corridors in the interests of biodiversity, and seeking to have any new boundary features consistent with the current landscape.
• Supporting, developing and extending the farmland birds scheme, and thus encouraging the farming community to actively engage in fostering local biodiversity where possible.

SEO 2

SEO 2: Protect, manage and enhance the (Hampshire) River Avon system, working in partnership notably with the regional farming community to improve the habitat for flora and fauna and improving biodiversity, developing the scope for climate regulation and for regulation of water flow and water quality.

For example by:

• Working with local groups, such as the Harnham Water Meadows Trust, south of Salisbury, protecting and enhancing traditional flood management systems, and their watermeadows and earthworks, looking for scope to extend them, and working to ensure that communities learn from such work.
• Monitoring chalk streams in the light of climate change and working with partners, for example the Wessex Chalk Streams Project, on the protection of water flow.
• Seeking to improve riparian tree cover where possible on a site-specific basis, exploring the benefits to landowners that may encourage them to foster shading of the river in order to assist in climate regulation and aid biodiversity.
• Encouraging the development of variation in ploughing practice, particularly in the Wylye Valley, to spread good practice and reduce contour-driven run- off and thus assist with reducing waste, soil erosion and pollution.
• Working with those delivering under the Water Framework Directive, specifically in the interests of improving and safeguarding the water and ecological quality of the chalk streams.
• Working to maintain the River Avon Special Area of Conservation and its biodiversity of flora and fauna, and contributing to the network of Natura 2000 sites.

SEO 3

SEO 3: Protect, conserve and sustainably manage the NCA’s rich historic and archaeological resource, notably the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site and its surrounding landscape, and its natural and cultural heritage, for its value in sense of place and history and tranquillity, for open air recreation, and for the benefits it brings to the local and regional economy.

For example by:

• Supporting and assisting the World Heritage Site Committee in giving effect to the operative Management Plan and delivering agreed-upon priorities in support of the site’s outstanding universal value, as is required of the Government by treaty.
• Assisting, so far as is possible, in the development of appropriate funding schemes which foster the maintenance and restoration of permanent grassland, to help to conserve the archaeological resource and to aid in the interpretation of the prehistoric landscape.
• Working with partners, for example the RSPB at Normanton Down, to help the landscape surrounding the World Heritage Site to serve the interests of the landowner and archaeology and biodiversity in order to enhance the overall visitor experience of the site.
• Considering the removal and extension of woodland as appropriate on a case-by-case basis, mindful of the potential for undiscovered heritage
  assets, to shield the World Heritage Site from inappropriate development and assist in securing a tranquil landscape in harmony with the prehistoric interest.
• Protecting and managing historic parklands to retain their important contribution to landscape character and sense of history, and to conserve their important deadwood fauna, including the establishment of new generations of trees and appropriate management of mature and veteran trees, in the interests of sense of place and biodiversity, and both soil quality and climate regulation.
• Conserving and appropriately managing and, where possible, increasing public understanding of the NCA’s archaeology of land use and settlement (dating back to the Neolithic and earlier) including its high archaeological potential and distinctive farmstead architecture, in the interests of sense of place and history, and for the benefits for the rural economy.
• Seeking to preserve where possible the agricultural heritage of the NCA and Wiltshire, notably field boundaries (some prehistoric) which have shaped the local landscape, and old practices from non-intensive farming times, for education purposes.

SEO 4

SEO 4: Protect and enhance the NCA’s agriculture interest, working with the local farming community to prepare for the impact of and adapt to both evolving funding mechanisms and climate change, to secure future food provision, while working in harmony with the nationally recognised and distinctive character of the landscape, its natural beauty and scenic quality and, so far as possible, extending the scope for access to nature and other recreation, for public benefit, understanding and enjoyment.

For example by:

• Working with the farming community to develop alternative land management practices and/or crops to adapt as appropriate to the changing climate in the light of the possible impact of climate change on the provisioning services provided.
• Fostering the involvement of community groups in making land available for public access, whether permissive or otherwise (learning, where possible, from the National Trust and other landowners who often facilitate access as a matter of principle) to increase public engagement with the natural environment and to develop public understanding of the responsibilities of visitors to the countryside.
• Exploring appropriate schemes on a site-specific basis for biodiversity offsetting and/or payment for ecosystem services, for example in the interests of local flood defences or for the benefit of local land managers, which may lead to greater provision and in any event assist the local economy.
• Working with relevant Local Nature Partnerships and Local Enterprise Partnerships to assist their work in respect of the role of land managers and others and to explore the potential for climate regulation services, or services aiding water and soil quality, to grow.