Strategy Statement
Strategy Statement on the Prison Service Biodiversity Action Plan
As an executive agency of the Home Office, the Prison Service works within the Government’s strategic objective to achieve sustainable development wherever possible. The Prison Service is committed to managing its land holdings and estate with effective land management practices, especially in respect of those areas which are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and land which has significant or potential biodiversity interest.
The Prison Service is committed to implementing the Government’s Biodiversity Strategy for England. As part of this strategy, the Prison Service will implement a Prison Service Biodiversity Action Plan (PSBAP), working with a central partnership consisting of English Nature, the Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. This partnership and the PSBAP is part of a long term strategy for the conservation of key species and habitats on the Prison Service estate. In addition, the attached Statement of Action sets out how the Service will aim to proceed.
This strategy statement and the PSBAP will be reviewed at least every three years and amended as necessary.
PSBAP objective
The objective of the PSBAP is to help the Prison Service achieve its aims for conserving and, where resources are available, enhancing biodiversity on the prison estate.
This will be achieved by:
providing action plans for key species and habitats to prison establishments which have designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and to those establishments which manage land which shows local, county or national importance in its biodiversity;
providing realistic and achievable targets so that the Prison Service can utilise its resources to best effect in its contribution to biodiversity; and
promoting awareness and understanding of the Service’s biodiversity achievements among the Service’s staff, prisoners and designated partnerships, and to raise the profile of biodiversity work within the prison estate.
Policy aims at Prison Service establishments Environmental considerations remain a key factor in the management of the prison estate and must reflect a positive image of the Service, its staff and its operations in the pursuit of biodiversity good practice. Accordingly:-
we will aim to promote engagement and participation among our staff in the management and protection of valuable key species and habitats, emphasizing the local endemic species of flora and fauna;
through effective management and positive promotion of habitats and species on our estate, we will aim to encourage local groups, societies and individuals to actively engage in project work that fosters community involvement;
we will aim to actively seek opportunities that develop the skills of prisoners in practical operations while carrying out countryside and rural skills in the management of our estate; and
through a continual process of evaluation and surveying, we will aim to report achievements against the PSBAP and the objectives and goals in this strategy, focusing on sustainable biodiversity estate management.
P. WHEATLEY
Director General
HM Prison Service
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