The UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) was published in 1994 in response to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The UK BAP set out a programme for conserving biodiversity in the UK and includes a list of species which are conservation priorities.

A review of the UK BAP priority species list in 2007 led to the identification of 1,150 species which met criteria at the UK level . Priorities for England have also been published under Section 41 of the NERC Act 2006 , which currently lists 943 species of principle importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity.

In Gloucestershire, 223 priority species have been recorded.

	Download: List of priority species found in Gloucestershire
	This list was put together by the Gloucestershire Centre for Environmental Records (GCER) in 2009.

At the Nagoya UN Biodiversity Summit (October 2010), a new 'Strategic Plan' to drive action on biodiversity under the CBD was agreed. This provides a new global vision and direction for biodiversity policy. To take account of this new framework, England has revised its biodiversity strategy .

We are now moving towards a more integrated landscape-scale approach to biodiversity conservation with the aim of recovering habitats and species as well as the ecosystems and services that they underpin.

This new ecosystem approach to delivery places greater emphasis on achieving biodiversity targets through habitat-based delivery by establishing coherent and resilient ecological networks. See Gloucestershire Nature Map for our local approach to delivery.

Standard targets for species (maintenance, increase range and/or population size) can be used to track the status of priority species.

	Download: Managing for species   ( Natural England website)
	Natural England's report 'Managing for Species', identifies how to integrate the needs of England's priority species into habitat management. View spreadsheets  which provide further analysis.

But this approach will not be sufficient to achieve the recovery of all priority species, so in some cases, it will need to be complemented by specific tailored action. An agreed prioritised and targeted action programme for the recovery of such species is expected soon for England.