Actions to conserve biodiversity
We have summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions to conserve wildlife and ecosystems.
Review the evidence from the studies
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Action | Effectiveness | Studies | Category | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips Action Link |
Beneficial | 104 | Synopsis Link | |
Cease or prohibit all types of fishing in a marine protected area Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 79 | Synopsis Link | |
Plant grass buffer strips/margins around arable or pasture fields Action Link |
Beneficial | 69 | Synopsis Link | |
Leave headlands in fields unsprayed (conservation headlands) Action Link |
Beneficial | 57 | Synopsis Link | |
Provide or retain set-aside areas in farmland Action Link |
Beneficial | 54 | Synopsis Link | |
Create uncultivated margins around intensive arable or pasture fields Action Link |
Beneficial | 49 | Synopsis Link | |
Plant wild bird seed or cover mixture Action Link |
Beneficial | 49 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide use generally Action Link |
Beneficial | 47 | Synopsis Link | |
Pay farmers to cover the cost of conservation measures (as in agri-environment schemes) Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 47 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce tillage Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 46 | Synopsis Link | |
Other biodiversity: Exclude grazers Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 45 | Synopsis Link | |
Use a larger mesh size Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 42 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands (several interventions at once) Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 38 | Synopsis Link | |
Fit mesh escape panels/windows to a trawl net Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 38 | Synopsis Link | |
Provide supplementary food for songbirds to increase reproductive success Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 37 | Synopsis Link | |
Captive breeding frogs Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 34 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce grazing intensity on grassland (including seasonal removal of livestock) Action Link |
Likely to be ineffective or harmful | 30 | Synopsis Link | |
Create ponds for amphibians Action Link |
Beneficial | 30 | Synopsis Link | |
Fit a size-sorting escape grid (rigid or flexible) to a prawn/shrimp trawl net Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 30 | Synopsis Link | |
Designate a Marine Protected Area and prohibit all types of fishing Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 29 | Synopsis Link | |
Use a square mesh instead of a diamond mesh codend in a trawl net Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 26 | Synopsis Link | |
Cease grazing on grassland to allow early succession Action Link |
Evidence not assessed | 26 | Synopsis Link | |
Create beetle banks Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 24 | Synopsis Link | |
Other biodiversity: Restore habitat along watercourses Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 24 | Synopsis Link | |
Modify fishing trap/pot configuration Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 23 | Synopsis Link | |
Create pit habitats (1–50 mm) on intertidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 22 | Synopsis Link | |
Manage hedgerows to benefit wildlife (includes no spray, gap-filling and laying) Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 20 | Synopsis Link | |
Leave cultivated, uncropped margins or plots (includes 'lapwing plots') Action Link |
Beneficial | 20 | Synopsis Link | |
Leave overwinter stubbles Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 20 | Synopsis Link | |
Translocate frogs Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 20 | Synopsis Link | |
Cut/mow herbaceous plants to maintain or restore disturbance: freshwater marshes Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 20 | Synopsis Link | |
Use organic rather than mineral fertilizers Action Link |
Beneficial | 19 | Synopsis Link | |
Modify the design or configuration of trawl gear (mixed measures) Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 19 | Synopsis Link | |
Introduce tree/shrub seeds or propagules: brackish/saline wetlands Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 19 | Synopsis Link | |
Undersow spring cereals, with clover for example Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 18 | Synopsis Link | |
Create beetle banks Action Link |
Unlikely to be beneficial | 18 | Synopsis Link | |
Other biodiversity: Use grazers to manage vegetation Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 18 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce chemical inputs in grassland management Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 18 | Synopsis Link | |
Fit a size-sorting escape grid (rigid or flexible) to a fish trawl net Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 18 | Synopsis Link | |
Create 'rock pools' on intertidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 18 | Synopsis Link | |
Maintain upland heath/moorland Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 17 | Synopsis Link | |
Create grooves and small protrusions, ridges or ledges (1–50 mm) on intertidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 16 | Synopsis Link | |
Use chemicals to attract natural enemies Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 15 | Synopsis Link | |
Delay mowing or first grazing date on pasture or grassland Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 15 | Synopsis Link | |
Leave overwinter stubbles Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 14 | Synopsis Link | |
Use environmentally-sensitive material on subtidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 14 | Synopsis Link | |
Create groove habitats (1–50 mm) on intertidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 14 | Synopsis Link | |
Release captive-bred reptiles into the wild: Tortoises, terrapins, side-necked & softshell turtles Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 14 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce grazing intensity on grassland by reducing stocking density Action Link |
Evidence not assessed | 14 | Synopsis Link | |
Raise water levels in ditches or grassland Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 13 | Synopsis Link | |
Designate a Marine Protected Area with a zonation system of activity restrictions Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 13 | Synopsis Link | |
Decrease the circumference or diameter of the codend of a trawl net Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 13 | Synopsis Link | |
Other biodiversity: Use fewer grazers Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 12 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce grazing intensity Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 12 | Synopsis Link | |
Leave headlands in fields unsprayed (conservation headlands) Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 12 | Synopsis Link | |
Create artificial reefs Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 12 | Synopsis Link | |
Hand-rear orphaned or abandoned marine and freshwater mammal young Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 12 | Synopsis Link | |
Provide artificial nest sites for bumblebees Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 11 | Synopsis Link | |
Delay mowing or first grazing date on pasture or grassland Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 11 | Synopsis Link | |
Manage ditches to benefit wildlife Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 11 | Synopsis Link | |
Create skylark plots Action Link |
Beneficial | 11 | Synopsis Link | |
Transplant or seed organisms onto subtidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 11 | Synopsis Link | |
Employ grazing in artificial grasslands/pastures Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 10 | Synopsis Link | |
Cease or prohibit mobile fishing gears that catch bottom (demersal) species and are dragged across the seafloor Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 10 | Synopsis Link | |
Transplant or seed organisms onto intertidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 10 | Synopsis Link | |
Allow natural regeneration of ground cover beneath perennial crops Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 9 | Synopsis Link | |
Plant crops in spring rather than autumn Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 9 | Synopsis Link | |
Provide or retain set‐aside areas in farmland Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 9 | Synopsis Link | |
Leave part of the crop or pasture unharvested or uncut Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Use grazing instead of cutting for pasture or grassland management Action Link |
Likely to be ineffective or harmful | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Exclude livestock from semi-natural habitat (including woodland) Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Create uncultivated margins around intensive arable or pasture fields for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Employ grazing in non-grassland habitats Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Plant new hedges Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Cease or prohibit all towed (mobile) fishing gear Action Link |
Beneficial | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Employ areas of semi-natural habitat for rough grazing (includes salt marsh, lowland heath, bog, fen) Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Use mowing techniques to reduce mortality Action Link |
Beneficial | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Captive breeding salamanders (including newts) Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Pest regulation: Plant flowers Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Pollination: Plant flowers Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Other biodiversity: Use seasonal grazing Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Fostering appropriate behaviour to facilitate rehabilitation Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Create artificial reefs of different 3-D structure and material used Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Use environmentally-sensitive material on intertidal artificial structures Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Fit large, supported escape openings (such as Fisheyes, Bigeyes and radial escape sections) to trawl nets Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 8 | Synopsis Link | |
Provide buffer strips alongside water courses (rivers and streams) Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Raise mowing height on grasslands to benefit farmland wildlife Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Apply herbicide to mid- and understorey vegetation Action Link |
Likely to be ineffective or harmful | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Cease or prohibit aggregate extraction Action Link |
Beneficial | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Create refuges Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Transplant/release captive-bred or hatchery-reared species - Transplant/release molluscs Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Translocate species - Translocate molluscs Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Release reptiles outside of their native range Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Plant wild bird seed or cover mixture Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Reduce grazing intensity on grassland by seasonal removal of livestock Action Link |
Awaiting assessment | 7 | Synopsis Link | |
Create scrapes and pools Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 6 | Synopsis Link | |
Create scrapes and pools in wetlands and wet grasslands Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 6 | Synopsis Link | |
Create ponds for natterjack toads Action Link |
Beneficial | 6 | Synopsis Link | |
Use rotational grazing Action Link |
Evidence not assessed | 6 | Synopsis Link |
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What are 'Individual studies' and 'Actions'?
Individual studies
An individual study is a summary of a specific scientific study, usually taken from a scientific journal, but also from other resources such as reports. It tells you the background context, the action(s) taken and their consequences.
If you want more detail please look at the original reference.
Actions
Each action page focuses on a particular action you could take to benefit wildlife or ecosystems.
It contains brief (150-200 word) descriptions of relevant studies (context, action(s) taken and their consequences) and one or more key messages.
Key messages show the extent and main conclusions of the available evidence. Using links within key messages, you can look at the paragraphs describing each study to get more detail. Each paragraph allows you to assess the quality of the evidence and how relevant it is to your situation.
Where we found no evidence, we have been unable to assess whether or not an intervention is effective or has any harmful impacts.