Ecologist Press Release

Coventry Council has decided to buy into expert advice on city greenspaces. This follows a Friends of the Earth campaign and petition for the reinstatemant of our City Ecologist.

The post of ecologist has been vacant for seven years and it has been claimed that green spaces and biodiversity have suffered through lack of scientific advice on species and their habitat. Coventry is home to a number of rare species such as the otter, kingfisher and water voles as well as important butterfly, bat and plant species.

Excellent advice and help will now be available on biodiversity and green space issues. The council report, http://cmis.coventry.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=9705 details the new agreement with the County Ecology Unit. This is a team of ecologists who, with their different specialisms, will advise and oversee Coventry's green spaces and help find the best balance between development and natural open space.

Ecologists will now read the weekly planning schedules and draw attention to any implications for biodiversity. They will advise parties involved in developments, including suggesting mitigation and compensation measures when habitats are lost. They will carry out surveys and monitoring of sites, and work with the council on biodiversity policy throughout the Directorates. In these areas the work carried out by the Warwickshire unit will equate to that which might have been done by a city ecologist.

'This arrangement is a very positive step forward which meets most of our concerns. In some ways this pooled resourse may achieve more than one City Ecologist could. However there are still important issues which are being looked at:

For example, at the Cabinet meeting last Thursday it was agreed to find the best means of access for groups and individuals to find help on green issues. The council will also be looking at ways to encourage pro-active and educational involvement in local biodiversity.

Suggestions being looked at are: a point of contact with an ecologist for the public; an audit of council roles which involve biodiversity and green space management; consulting the public about what they want; and the re-starting of the Biodiverstiy Working Group to draw together local expertise and enthusiasm.'