Biodiversity Action Plan
From desert to nature reserve
Despite being within a national park, the Bluestone site has not always been blessed with a rich biodiversity. Indeed, before the resort was built, the area had been intensively farmed for many years, leaving it, in the words of a team of ecologists from Cardiff University, an ‘ecological desert.’ On the plus side, this meant we had a great opportunity to improve and enhance habitats, and encourage wildlife and flora back into the area.
Please download a copy of our ten-year Biodiversity Action Plan as we build towards a Free Range Future.
Sixteen or so years later, the Bluestone site is no longer a green desert. Indeed, a 2022 survey by the Kent Wildlife Trust found that though construction of the resort entailed some removal of habitat, the cessation of farming, restoration of grassland and creation of woodland, coupled with sensitive land management, has the site on course for a 50.7% net gain in biodiversity.
Vincent Ganley, Managing Director of Kent Wildlife Trust Consultancy, said: “It’s easy to assume that large scale development inevitably has a negative impact on biodiversity and natural world. In Bluestone’s case, that assumption is incorrect.
In fact, our studies show that the reverse is true.
“Biodiversity net gain represents an approach to development that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was beforehand. It’s clear that this was Bluestone’s intention from the outset. We commend them for it, and we look forward to seeing what more they achieve in the coming years.”
Much of the progress Bluestone has made in terms of enhancing biodiversity is due to our Biodiversity Action Plan, which you can download below.
National and Local Levels
Bluestone's Biodiversity plan exists both within a national and local context, find out what we're doing at both levels.
National: Wales
Wales' National Biodiversity Strategy and Action plan for Wales is set out in the National Recovery Action Plan (NRAP). It addresses the Convention on Biological Diversity's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the associated Aichi biodiversity targets in Wales.
Set out in two parts, the plan identifies actions that can be delivered in the short term and set a course to deliver long-term commitments beyond 2020.
Part 1: Our Strategy for Nature
Commitment to reversing the loss of biodiversity in Wales, and the objectives for action.
Part 2: Our Action Plan
Provide focus and prioritisation within a fast-changing policy context and the emerging ecological crisis.
To ensure the plan is progressing as envisaged, a set of indicators have been developed to measure its progress against their original objectives. To accompany the plan, a Nature Recovery Framework will set out the roles and responsibilities of the key players for delivery of action for biodiversity in Wales, and how they are linked together.
Find out more about the National Recovery Action Plan and Nature Recovery Framework, here.
The NRAP works with and alongside the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Environment Act (Wales) 2016.
Addressing the decline in species: Wales and Pembrokeshire
Following numerous reports into the decline of species in Wales, and Pembrokeshire, the Welsh Government set out six key objectives within the NRAP to halt the decline in biodiversity.
The Pembrokeshire Nature Recovery Action Plan takes these objectives and sets them into the local context to produce a broad action theme to meet the objectives.
Trends in selected conservation features:
| Condition | UK | Wales | Pembrokeshire |
| Declining | 40% | 33% | 30% |
| Stable | 31% | 43% | 35% |
| Improving | 29% | 24% | 22% |
| Data Deficient | - | - | 13% |
Modified from State of Nature Report (2016) and State of Wildlife in Pembrokeshire Report (2016).
Net Zero
Reducing our carbon footprint
Waste Management
New ways with waste
Sustainable Development
To secure a sustainable and fair future