Ecology - Print version

Ecology and biodiversity

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment. An organism is an individual animal, plant, or other individual living thing, including humans!

Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth. It includes all animals and plants as well as other organisms and the habitats that support them.​

Coventry City Council helps manage, protect and improve the City's ecology and biodiversity through the planning process. We also work with external partners to help analyse and assess the City's natural environment.​

Our Ecology team works on a number of projects to actively enhance our City's biodiversity, in collaboration with other Council Teams as well as external partners such as Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, our two Universities, and other neighbouring local authoriti​es. 

Coventry features many important species and sites and urban wildlife is everywhere in the city. For more information about species in Coventry, see what residents have recorded on the iNaturalist website , and add your own observations!

Planning advice

Under UK planning legislation, there are three main areas of ecological protection: protected species and sites, biodiversity net gain and trees.  Advice on ecology in the planning system can be sought through the Council's pre-application service [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/planning-2/pre-application-planning-advice]. Further information on trees and their protection can be found on the Council's Trees and Woodlands webpage [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/heritage-ecology-trees]. 

Protected species â€‹

Many of our native plant and animal species have legal protection under UK and/or European law. For example, all bat species, great crested newts, and otters are protected under both UK and European law and badgers are protected under their own Badger Act. â€‹

​Areas of significant ecological value in Coventry are also protected either through national law or local policy. This includes Sites of Special Scientific Interest such as Tile Hill Wood. More information about where our protected sites are can be found on the Spectrum Spatial™ map [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/planning-2/online-planning-map]. 

​Planners are legally required to consider protected species and sites when relevant to planning applications.  This is undertaken in accordance with the above national legislation and the City Council's adopted Local Plan. â€‹

Biodiversity Net Gain â€‹

Biodiversity Net Gain was made nationally mandatory under the Environment Act 2021, and it requires developments to enhance the biodiversity of their sites by 10% more than it had pre-development.

Further information on this can be found in Coventry City Council’s Biodiversity Net Gain Supplementary Planning Document [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7393/biodiversity-net-gain-spd].

​Coventry City Council has been applying a biodiversity offsetting scheme prior to the Environment Act of 2021 and is in the process of adopting the national scheme. â€‹

Biodiversity projects

The City Council's Ecology team leads and contributes to a variety of projects across the city and region. These projects cover a range of overlapping aims, including nature enhancement, biodiversity monitoring, community engagement and citizen science. â€‹

​We work with partners within the Council, such as parks, urban forestry, Public Health and climate change, as well as external partners, such as the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Canal and Rivers Trust, and both Warwick and Coventry University. â€‹

​We play a strategic role, offering advice or assisting with funding applications in everything from local community projects to regional programmes and research collaborations.​

Examples of our ongoing projects​

Creating and supporting natural spaces​

In line with Biodiversity Net Gain legislation, we are creating biodiversity offsetting sites. This involves large-scale, long-term habitat creation and restoration. Examples of these spaces include Elm Fields Farm and Coundon Wedge.​

​Partnering with the Council's Parks Team â€‹

This includes designing and implementing biodiversity enhancements in our green spaces, such as Edgwick Park and Radford Recreation Ground.​

​City Nature Challenge​

This is a global Citizen Science event that takes place the final weekend in April every year and involves getting people out in their local environments to record biodiversity. More information can be found on the official City Nature Challenge​ webpage [https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/] and you can sign up to take part via the Council's City Nature Challenge event page. [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/heritage-ecology-trees/city-nature-challenge]

​Monitoring biodiversity with novel eDNA methods​

In collaboration with the University of Warwick's School of Life Sciences, we have been awarded funding from the University's Biosciences Impact Fund to experiment with innovative eDNA techniques to monitor biodiversity in Foleshill and Binley and Willenhall. â€‹

​The Species Recovery Programme​

In collaboration with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, the Canal and Rivers Trust, and the University of Warwick, we will be enhancing habitats designed to support bittern, water vole, willow tit and white-clawed crayfish and help their local populations flourish. More details can be found on Warwickshire Wildlife Trust's webpage [https://www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/news/threatened-warwickshire-species-be-saved-extinction].