4Bs Biodiversity Forum Supports the idea of a 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative

The second meeting of the 4Bs Biodiversity Forum was held on October 9th at the Surrey Wildlife Trust Education Centre, Nower Wood. The Forum contains representatives from the 4Bs Parish and Neighbourhood Councils, Mole Valley District Council, Surrey County Council, Surrey Wildlife Trust, National Trust, Surrey Hills National Landscape, and significant Landowners. The group has been formed to evaluate the idea of a Biodiversity Park for the 4Bs area. 

In August-September Forum members had participated in a consultation exercise aimed at evaluating the proposal for a Biodiversity Park. The consultation showed less than unanimous support for the idea of designating the area as a “Park”, but agreement that cooperation across the 4Bs area would help in conserving wildlife at a landscape scale. In the interests of inclusivity an alternative idea had been proposed namely a Biodiversity Initiative. Taking the initiative is about people and organisations voluntarily deciding to take ownership for a problem or opportunity and working together to make something positive happen. The Forum agreed that 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative was the right concept around which to develop a network of people and organisations who cared enough about nature to give some of their time and energy to participate in activities that support nature recovery.

At the May meeting of the Forum it had been suggested that an Inventory of existing activities and projects relating to biodiversity across the 4Bs area would be a useful asset. Simon Humphreys from the Biodiversity Initiative Team had used the idea to start creating a map-based inventory using the Google Maps platform. Simon gave a live demonstration at the October meeting and it stimulated many questions and suggestions from Forum members which will be used in the next stage of development.
In the final part of the meeting, team member Simon Fellowes posed the what next? question. Forum members grouped into Parish and District Councils, Environmental NGO’s and Landowners, were invited to identify 3 priority actions, linked to the aims for the initiative, that could form the basis of an emergent plan of action.  An important part of the process was to identify who might own the action.

The question of what resources are needed to achieve the aims of the initiative is clearly important and possible funding sources will be explored going forward. But it was also recognised by members that much can be achieved with relatively little financial resource by people who are motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable. Finding the advocates, enthusiasts and experts who are willing to invest time and energy is often the biggest challenge, rather than funding. We celebrate the progress made in building a network of nature enthusiasts, activists and experts through the 4Bs Nature WhatsApp Group.

The meeting only lasted 2 hours but it covered a lot of ground. Once again the meeting demonstrated the value in bringing people together to learn from each other, stimulate conversation and ideas, and create better understanding and new working relationships through which new and unexpected things will surely emerge.  

The Forum will meet again on March 5th 2025 exactly one year after the project began. The ultimate goal of the project is to bring people and organisations together to see if they can find a way to build an alliance and practical partnership with the residents and communities of the 4Bs to help nature and improve biodiversity. At the final meeting of the Forum under the current one year project to develop the concept, the decision will be made by members to either continue the initiative as it is currently configured, or adapt its configuation (perhaps with fewer or more members) or to close it in its current form. But one thing is sure – things will never be the same again in the 4Bs. A new movement for nature has been started.