LA21 is about changing people's attitudes to sustainability. The Earth Summit in Rio, recognises that local action for sustainable development is vital. Local Agenda 21 (LA21) is the name given to the process of delivering Agenda 21 at the local level, and many local authorities in Scotland have responded by setting up their own LA21 initiatives.

Biodiversity is an essential measure of sustainable development (along with social well being and economic health). Biodiversity is also, in itself, important to our quality of life, through the intrinsic value of a diverse natural environment and through the resilient natural support services that a healthy natural environment provides. The biodiversity process therefore offers indicators for measuring the health and sustainability of the environment and our lifestyles. LBAPs are a natural part of LA21 and there are opportunities arising from integration, especially since the issues and concerns surrounding biodiversity are generally easier for the public to appreciate than the more esoteric arguments about sustainability. LA21 initiatives can use the LBAP as a means of delivering some of the wider messages of sustainable development to a general audience. But the converse is also true: biodiversity needs to be understood and accepted as an integral part of sustainable development, so that the opportunities for adding value through integration are not missed.

In 1998 the West Lothian Biodiversity Action Plan was submitted for the national Quality in Planning Award, run by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). This was the first time that a LBAP was judged in the context of a planning award. The judges recognised that LBAPs represent an innovative contribution to local planning, and, thanks to their recommendation, biodiversity planning has now been introduced as a specific theme in the annual RTPI awards.

The Dumfries and Galloway LBAP has enjoyed a number of awards since its launch.

• 1999 RTPI (Scotland) Award for Quality in Planning under the Development Planning category (received a commendation in the National RTPI Awards)
• Silver Green Apple Award
• Scotland in Bloom Sustainability Award

The Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan (City of Edinburgh Council, 1999) has eight core principles including:

"Protecting the area's natural heritage including its biodiversity and landscape character."

In the environment chapter of the plan, biodiversity is specifically targeted in one of the policy objectives:-

"...that new development meets the objective of sustainable development, in particular the maintenance of biodiversity, and contributes to a healthy and attractive environment within Rural West Edinburgh." (City of Edinburgh 1999:15)

Policy E1 "when assessing individual development proposals, one of the aspects to be taken into account is the extent to which the development would maintain or increase biodiversity".

A further policy states that the nature conservation and biodiversity value of the countryside will be maintained and improved when considering development proposals. Policy E20 encourages developers to maintain and increase the nature conservation value of proposed development sites, through enhancing or creating new wildlife habitats.

Biodiversity is also integrated into further areas of the Local Plan. Policy ED4 on 'Quality of Business and Industry Development' highlights how biodiversity has to become a consideration in the production of a development proposal, ensuring that biodiversity is integrated into industrial or business developments from the very beginning:-

"The Council will encourage business and industry uses to incorporate best practice in terms of air quality control, biodiversity, energy consumption and waste management. Development proposals must include details of landscaping provision where necessary and incorporate quality design standards appropriate to the nature of the site and the proposed use." (Edinburgh City Council 1999:100)

As a means of increasing awareness of biodiversity issues amongst Development Control and Local Plan planners in Fife, the Fife biodiversity officer, Fife Nature, and the council's planner/ecologist gave presentations at the three Fife Council area planning offices in Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Cupar. The talk emphasised the role of planning in protecting biodiversity, highlighted the guidance in NPPG14 that nature conservation and biodiversity are material considerations which should be considered in assessing planning proposals. The benefits of using the specialist skills within the Planning Service when giving advice on biodiversity opportunities to developers was covered, and the value of involving these specialists early in discussions prior to the submission of planning applications, to identify problems and opportunities.

Close liaison with the city's planners was a key feature in the preparation of the Edinburgh Biodiversity Action Plan (EBAP). The council's Planning Committee enthusiastically endorsed the Plan, and its recommendations are now influencing planning decisions in the city. Many of the species and habitat action plans in EBAP contain specific recommendations for the planning process. These include:-

• protecting the city's only sand martin breeding colony through the Local Plan;
• encouraging barn owl nest boxes and bat boxes in agricultural building proposals;
• protecting the city's allotments from loss to new development;
• preventing damaging development, or encouraging the adoption of mitigating measures, for the city's badger population.
• Progress has been made on all of these actions. For example:
• A recent planning permission granted for a barn conversion was made conditional on the provision of a barn owl nest box.
• Development of the Telferton Allotments was successfully resisted at a planning appeal, partly on biodiversity grounds.
• A factor in the rejection by a Planning Reporter of a supermarket proposed in Gorgie was that the development would adversely affect two EBAP species.
• New draft Local Plans for South East and Rural West Edinburgh now contain detailed policy guidance for development proposals affecting protected species such as bats, badgers and
  barn owls.
• The council's Planning Committee approved five new proposed Local Nature Reserves containing EBAP species in August 2000.

Biodiversity can play a role in positive planning. The EBAP is not about preventing development, but rather it aims to ensure that new development takes account of - and, where practicable, improves - the state of the area's biodiversity. On a small scale, this can be as simple as providing nest boxes for swifts, on a larger scale, positive planning can provide new wildlife sites and local nature reserves.

The council has also used planning briefs to highlight opportunities for improving biodiversity value. The redevelopment of the former City Hospital has resulted in the creation of a Neighbourhood Nature Area - part of a city-wide network of small sites managed for wildlife and people by local community groups. The City of Edinburgh Council is integrating biodiversity concerns into the statutory planning process, and planners are starting to add the word biodiversity to their vocabulary.

Scottish Borders Council produced a Draft Environmental Strategy in December 1999. This provides a corporate framework, allowing council departments to address sustainability issues and measure their own performance in terms of sustainability. The Environmental Strategy ensures that LBAP considerations are incorporated into all relevant policy areas. It sets out environmental aims and targets for the council until the year 2005, and feeds directly into the council's Local Agenda 21 process. The Environmental Strategy outlines the role of the Council in the Scottish Borders Biodiversity Partnership and discusses the LBAP.

Within the Environmental Strategy, actions are identified under different headings, such as the natural environment. It is anticipated that, as Local Plans are redeveloped, these actions will feed into the plans. One of the action points relates specifically to incorporating the LBAP into all areas of the Councils activities. It commits the council to:

"promote the incorporation of the Scottish Borders Local Biodiversity Action Plan into all decision-making throughout the Scottish Borders Council." (Scottish Borders Council, 1999: 13)

In 1998, Glasgow City Council designated Hogganfield Park as its second Local Nature Reserve (LNR), the LNR comprises a large, shallow loch with a densely wooded island, and large areas of amenity-managed and semi-improved grasslands. Over the last few years, a pilot project by the Kelvin Valley Countryside Project and Glasgow City Council's Land Services, involving local school children, has been undertaken with the aim of improving the condition of priority LBAP habitats (woodlands, grasslands and wetlands) and species (reed bunting and water vole) within the LNR. During this period a small reedbed has been created in one corner of the loch, and over 10,000 trees have been planted in order to extend and link the existing woodlands.

An ambitious project at the eastern end of the site has enhanced an existing small marshy area with the creation of a series of small pools, and the surrounding grasslands are being managed as wildflower meadows. After only a couple of years, there have been some remarkable results, with the colourful meadows hosting a diverse range of plant and animal species. The numbers of breeding reed buntings has increased, and water voles have been recorded in the park for the first time. Other birds such as tufted duck, water rail, grey partridge and skylark have bred, and butterflies such as the meadow brown and common blue continue to benefit. It is hoped that the project will serve as a stimulus and as an attractive model for habitat improvement work at other sites throughout the city.

Included in the Argyll & Bute Community Planning Vision is the recognition that the diversity of Argyll & Bute's natural environment is an asset, and that its protection is vital. One of the challenges for Argyll & Bute Council is integrating Community Planning with other initiatives, and, with this in mind, the local Biodiversity Partnership has been included as one of the key players. The Community Planning Partnership intends to simplify meetings and initiatives in which they are involved, and to use Community Planning as an umbrella for these initiatives where appropriate.

There are approximately 4,000 kilometres of roadside verge in Dumfries & Galloway. This has huge potential for biodiversity, providing corridors through a variety of habitats and a refuge for wildlife. The Dumfries & Galloway Roadside Biodiversity Action Plan ('RBAP') was drafted in recognition of this, with inspiration from the Scottish Executive Trunk Roads BAP (see chapter 7). The RBAP aims to maximise the biodiversity of the roadside verge without compromising road safety. Pilot projects for good-practice management of the region's roadsides are now being set up.

'Conservation Verges' are being marked with a new sign, incorporating the national biodiversity logo. The sign was launched with TV and press coverage in September 2000. Each has a management plan prepared, and this is logged onto the road's gazetteer so that any works will take account of the biodiversity value of the verge. A leaflet, Take a Drive on the Wildside, has been placed in local libraries and planning offices to inform people and give them the opportunity to nominate other Conservation Verges.

One of these Conservation Verges is the only known inland site in Scotland for the narrow five-spot burnet moth. Management of the verge includes scrub clearance and cutting to maintain and enhance the food plants of the moth (meadow vetchling and red clover).

In West Lothian, the preferred means of delivering biodiversity commitments is through an active and effective partnership. This relies on partners taking ownership of the initiative and responsibility for the process itself. Through this integrating approach, council departments and other organisations are taking the LBAP on board. In the short term, it is thought that the use of a project officer might have accelerated the process of integration, but integration is still progressing through the involvement of partners, although at a rather slower pace because of the time and resource constraints of partners. The partnership approach can lead to greater ownership and involvement, resulting in a more effective cultural change within the partners and embedding of LBAP principles in their work in the longer term.

In North Lanarkshire, the LBAP is a part of the Council's corporate policy, with the Central Support Unit driving forward departmental compliance. This has brought a number of benefits across the council's activities:-

• Planning applications are received, checked against biological records, and site visits are made. Planners are made aware of priority habitats and species to help them make informed decisions.
• The Education Department participates in an educational awareness topic group set up by the LBAP partnership. This directly links to schools and environmental education.
• Other departments are increasing their understanding of biodiversity, encouraging, for example, a focus on woodland management and maintenance.
• The Community Services Department operates a Biological Record Centre for North Lanarkshire. The data held has proved increasingly valuable to other council departments, especially Planning and Environment, and it has provided robust data for writing Structure and Local Plans and for use in development control. North Lanarkshire Council feel that through this mechanism, considerations of biodiversity have shifted from being seen as a hindrance to being viewed as positive assistance to planners and development control.
• The Biological Record Centre has been the key in developing the biodiversity audit for North Lanarkshire's LBAP. A joint record centre is now being proposed between North and South Lanarkshire, as part of the National Biodiversity Network.
• To secure wider council involvement in pursuing LBAP objectives, North Lanarkshire Council and its partners are preparing a draft matrix to support priority action. It will become a tool to allow partners to progress biodiversity action over the next few years.
• The council is keen to appoint an LBAP officer to secure resources for a critical part of the development of the LBAP