Wildlife, Biodiversity and Protected Sites
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Working in the conservation sector, projects often involve collaboration between organisations to achieve results that are acceptable to all parties and by cooperation can provide a more significant gain for wildlife.
Wildflowers of Mann
The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture is involved in this major collaborative project to propagate Manx wildflowers and introduce them into appropriate areas by working with local people who are interested in their environment. The project is steered by a committee with representatives from a range of different organisations both within and outside of the Government.
Areas of Special Scientific Interest
Designated ASSIs can be owned by a number of different landowners, each using the land for different purposes and managed with a different approach. The Department, though responsible for protecting the special designated interest, does not necessarily own or manage the land. It is therefore very important that the landowners and the Department develop a relationship that can be of mutual benefit, the Department providing advice on management, with regard to the interest on a site, and considering applications for operations that may be required, and the landowners continuing to maintain the land and control what takes place there.
National Nature Reserve
The central part of the Ayres is held by the Department and by Manx National Heritage. By working together, we provide consistent management across the National Nature Reserve, both organisations contributing towards the wardening and management. By maintaining a friendly working relationship with the adjacent landowners, the wildlife across the wider area benefits. Further details of the site can be found on the Ayres page.
Wildlife Committee
The Department considers advice from and asks advice of the Wildlife Committee, a group with members from within and outside of Government who meet to discuss wildlife and conservation issues, including the import and export of endangered species and matters relating to the Wildlife Act.
Research projects
The Department contracts and undertakes research to provide information on specific areas of interest. This has included an ecological survey of vegetation and habitats across the Island (see the surveys page) and work on protected species. Students sometimes undertake projects by agreement between the Department and their academic institution, to research issues of mutual interest.
Liaising with specialists in local groups
The Department values the specialist knowledge that other people have and therefore works towards liaising with such people where this can be of benefit to wildlife. An example is the relationship between the Department and the Manx Bat Group. DEFA can provide advice on bat issues on a statutory basis, but the Bat Group, as a local society, has volunteers that can respond to queries from home owners and others, using their detailed local knowledge of bats and advising from an independent view point. The 2 organisations benefit by liaising closely where coordinated action can achieve the best results.
Sustainability and the changing statuses of species
The Department contracts the annual monitoring of breeding birds in order to track changes in the countryside, the status of individual species and to guide advice provided by the Department, and regulatory and support regimes involving birds. The work is undertaken by Manx BirdLife and builds on their baseline atlas work. The results grow in value with each year of monitoring.
