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19th Dec, 2006
WWF-UK have published an important study into the ecological footprint of our suburbs. 'One Planet Living in the Suburbs' looks at the resource demands of 'average'and 'keen' residents in a typical part of suburbia - Solihull. The mythical residents are also compared as to whether they live in a conventional or 'retrofitted' suburb. Their lifestyles take between 2.5 (average in conventional suburb) and 1.5 (keen in retrofitted suburb) planets to sustain.
In the Executive Summary document there are a number of general recommendations designed to improve this situation, together with more detailed ideas related to specific elements of modern living. These include zero waste and carbon, sustainable transport, materials and water, health and happiness and, crucially for us, natural habitats and wildlife.
It is here, surprisingly considering that this is a report from WWF, that the report seems weakest. The natural habitats and wildlife section is the shortest and one of the least imaginative. The recommendations call for conservation of existing biodiversity (including preparation of biodiversity strategies) regeneration of degraded land and increased access for people. They then ask for the Code for Sustainable Homes to include ecological assessment credits, reduced VAT on native species, provision of discounted or free professional advice, planting of native species in gardens and increasing biodiversity through planting.
Altogether a rather strange mish-mash of what seem to be half-formed (and maybe half-informed) ideas.
There is no mention of a strategic approach to natural and semi-natural open spaces, no thought of involvement in managing that resource, environmental education for all, or, and this is the biggest missed opportunity, no mention of the now well known standards for access to a hierarchy of open spaces. The principles of conservation, enhancement and creation of priority habitats are barely touched upon.
Don't go to the One Planet Living website to see this report - strangely it is on http://www.wwf.org.uk/sustainablehomes/index.asp
The full report is only available as a pdf from this site, although when I tried to download it it failed to appear. The Executive Summary is available in hard copy from WWF-UK.
