Biodiversity
The Downs and Harbours Clean Water Partnership area has a wealth of protected and valuable habitats and wildlife. These include the Hampshire and West Sussex harbours and estuaries frequented by migratory and overwintering birds, large areas of wetland, woodland and grassland that are nationally important for biodiversity conservation. Portsmouth Water work in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency to maintain and where possible enhance the biodiversity of the project area.
Portsmouth Water's Biodiversity Grant Scheme 2020-2025
Portsmouth Water as part of it ongoing environmental commitments is offering a grant scheme from 2020 to 2025 for environmental improvements. The aim is to improve habitat networks around Portsmouth Water Sites.
Click below for more details about the Scheme, Applications and projects awarded grants on the Biodiversity Grant Scheme page .
What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the measure of variety of life, including all species of plants and animals and the natural systems that support them.
View of Portsmouth Harbour from a Reservoir site on Portsdown Hill
How Portsmouth water manage sites for Biodiversity
Within Portsmouth Water’s resource area we have a number of sites that are important to wildlife from an international to local level.
It is a statutory requirement for us to maintain, and wherever possible, enhance Biodiversity on company owned land. We minimise the impact groundwork we undertake has on habitat and undertake projects and ecological surveys on operational and non-operational land with the aim of enhancing biodiversity and facilitating the creation of Biological corridors in conjunction with partners and our Biodiversity Grant Scheme.
Find out more by clicking the 'Managing sites for Biodiversity' Page button below:
Green Winged Orchids at disused Pump station near Bishops Waltham, 2019
Importance of Biodiversity
Humans are dependant on other species for ecological services and resources to survive. Biodiversity directly impacts our food resources (through pollination and food chains) and facilitates the biogeochemical (water, nutrients & carbon) cycles that provide us with oxygen, regulate the climate and influence weather.
Having high levels of biodiversity is important to: decrease the probability, severity and our vulnerability to droughts, climate change, and pandemics (genetic resources); and use in Biomimetics (using knowledge of adaptations of species to improve designs) including within energy, medicine and Cancer research.