Biodiversity Duty Plan

Neath Port Talbot Council (NPTC) has a legal duty to maintain and enhance biodiversity, and in so doing, promote the resilience of ecosystems under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. This plan demonstrates how we will fulfil that duty and will act as a driver for conservation activities throughout Neath Port Talbot (NPT).

There is a long tradition of environmental conservation in NPT with many groups involved. While the Authority will still work with these groups, including facilitating the NPT Nature Partnership, this plan sets out what we, as an Authority, are doing to meet this legal duty.

The Welsh Government (WG) has introduced a number of legislative requirements for public bodies and local authorities to comply with, which change the way we plan and deliver services, putting sustainable development principles at the heart of all public bodies’ decision making. The NPTC Corporate Plan 2019-2022 recognises this requirement for change and the preparatory work needed to ensure we discharge our statutory duties. The Biodiversity Duty Plan (BDP) not only delivers our statutory duties with regards to biodiversity but also explains how, through meeting the Biodiversity Duty, we are delivering well-being objectives and the ways of working under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

The Biodiversity Duty Plan 2017 Action Report sets out what we did to deliver the actions in the first plan. It goes on to make recommendations on how to develop each action, and proposes new actions. Those recommendations were implemented in the new Biodiversity Duty Plan 2020-2023, which was approved by Council in December 2021. The accompanying implementation report will be published in 2023.

• Read the Biodiversity Duty Plan 2020-2023