Biodiversity at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Aligning to external policy

We are committed to protecting and enhancing the biodiversity on our sites. To ensure this can be done effectively, STFC’s biodiversity vision, goals and objectives are aligned to local, national and international objectives:

• The Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) set out the actions UK government departments and partners will take to reduce their impacts on the environment in 2021 to 2025.

• The National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) : Includes the protection of priority habitats and species, reflected by Vale of White Horse District Council in its Local Plan - with a Core Policy (Policy 46) covering biodiversity.

• Biodiversity Net Gain: This is a key concept which is reflected in the NPPF, and a 10% net gain is mandatory for new developments under the Environment Act 2021

• Biodiversity Duty: Under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) STFC, as a non-departmental public body, has a legal duty to ensure biodiversity conservation and enhancement.

• UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) Sustainable Development Goals: Governments from around the world agreed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which aims to conserve 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030. Sustainable Development Goal 15 , relates to life on land and specifically aims to halt biodiversity loss

STFC actions at RAL

It is essential we consider biodiversity in our day-to-day business activities. Ensuring we maximise the opportunities to support and expand the quality of biodiversity, making our site more wildlife friendly as well as a more pleasant environment for staff and visitors.

There are opportunities for further improvements whilst reflecting the duty placed on public bodies to conserve and enhance biodiversity:

• Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) - the target for all major developments at STFC to meet at least 10% BNG will build biodiversity enhancement into the planning of new constructions.

• Identify parts of the RAL site as ‘Biodiversity Opportunity Areas’. This allows us to achieve a blend of long term habitat managed areas, where future development is unlikely, alongside more temporary landscape managed areas where future development is planned, but not immediately.

• Through altered grassland management we can increase the biodiversity value of our amenity grassland. 

For many years now STFC at RAL have been actively supporting wild Orchid populations on-site through the alteration of our mowing regimes. This has allowed us to monitor and report thousands of orchids across our site. For more information about UK orchid species please see: https://www.hardyorchidsociety.org.uk/

Wildflower management at RAL

Through our Nature Recovery Plans we have identified several areas around the site at RAL that are earmarked for habitat enhancement, these areas will benefit from:

• A reduced mowing regime, ideally mowed just once a year in September.

• All cut vegetation removed from the grassland, to prevent a build up of nutrients.

• The areas kept neat, and managed by mowing the edges of the plots and any required paths through them.

• Connectivity, or close proximity, to adjacent habitats, will be a valuable enhancement, enabling wildlife to more readily move between areas on the site.

If these unmown areas prove to be lacking in species diversity, they will be made more diverse by oversowing with a suitable seed mix.

By increasing the variety and areas of wildflowers we will also be supporting local insect communities. Bees are already monitored on site by a member of staff with a personal passion, and this data is shared with the local Biological Records Centre.

For wider grassland management, we participate in the Plantlife “No Mow May” initiative.

External engagement at RAL

We are engaging with external stakeholders to ensure we are making an appropriate contribution to biodiversity. Our biodiversity enhancement activities are more likely to have a positive impact if they are coordinated with those of external stakeholders, especially those in the local area, including the UKRI Medical Research Council, and the wider Harwell Campus where we can share plans and ambitions that will support and compliment local biodiversity.

STFC is exploring how we can contribute to other local initiatives such as:

• The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s (BBOWT) vision for a Nature Recovery Network.

• Oxfordshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS)

• Wild Oxfordshire who are a charity seeking to create a more natural, resilient, and biodiverse Oxfordshire for the benefit of all

This is important, as wildlife needs to move and disperse across the landscape - when species become isolated they are at much greater risk of extinction. Landscape scale habitat networks also allow recolonisation if local extinction events ever occur. They are an effective method of conserving nature in landscapes that have become fragmented by human actions.

Internal awareness across STFC

It is important to raise the awareness of biodiversity across the whole organisation to ensure improvements can be identified more widely. Going forward we aim to introduce training, volunteering days and improvements to how we capture and share biodiversity data.

We currently raise awareness through:

• Frequent communications to colleagues via the internal intranet.
• Engagement activities through our Green Groups
• Participating in and encouraging colleagues to get involved with No Mow May

Why is No Mow May important in the UK?

The UK has lost approximately 97% of flower-rich meadows since the 1930’s and with them, gone are vital food needed by pollinators, like bees and butterflies.

Household lawns can help. A healthy lawn with some long grass and wildflowers benefits wildlife, tackles pollution and can even lock away carbon below ground. With over 20 million gardens in the UK, even the smallest grassy patches add up to a significant proportion of our land which, if managed properly, can deliver enormous gains for nature, communities, and the climate.

Get involved!

Plantlife calls for people to get involved with #NoMowMay every year, and let wild plants get a head start on the summer.

You can get involved by not mowing your lawn through the month of May.

Wildlife at RAL

We have installed wildlife cameras to identify what species can be found on site. This footage has been recorded over the last 12 months, and shows our site provides a rich habitat for a range of species. Continued monitoring will allow us to track any changes to the type and quantity of species that call the site home.

Learn more about the work of STFC at   www.ukri.org/councils/stfc