Biodiversity - What's the problem?

Biodiversity is in trouble, in Flintshire and throughout the world. There is a demand to build more roads, houses, shops, factories and power stations, but Flintshires plants and animals need this land too. There is a demand for resources such as minerals, sand and gravel for building and industry, but this will often lead to the loss of plants and animals living in the areas we quarry.

We affect biodiversity by polluting air, water and land with wastes from agriculture, industry and domestic activities. We remove hedgerows, trees, and ponds, the homes of plants and animals, to increase our field sizes and "tidy up" the countryside. We use artificial fertilisers and pesticides in an attempt to increase our food production, which leads to a loss of plants and animals.

The Common Toad - under threat The Common toad - not so common anymore!

The red squirrel is probably extinct in Flintshire, as there have been no recent sightings!

Habitat management

Beech forest managementDifferent plants and animals need different types of habitats (the places where they live). Often these habitats will only survive in a suitable condition with management. For example most of our grasslands only exist because farmers have utilised these areas for low level grazing by stock for hundreds of years. Because of changes in farming practices farmers have been put under pressure to increase stocking levels, therefore the interesting and important fauna and flora assemblages that have developed on these areas over centuries are being lost.


The loss of traditional management skills and practices, such as coppicing of woodlands and laying of hedgerows, has also led to a loss of suitable habitat for many plants and animals, such as the dormouse, and the barn owl.

Species loss

Sometimes plants or animals only live in a small area, and once lost from this area the whole species becomes extinct. Not only can species be lost forever, but also the genetic variety that lets them adapt to changes in the environment. The loss of one species is likely to have a knock on effect on other species in that area, for example if a certain nectar rich plant is lost, the insects that feed on that plant will decline, the birds that feed on those insects will also decline, then because there are fewer birds their seed dispersal function will be reduced, so the number of other plants will be effected aswell, then other species may also be effected by this. It is very difficult to predict the outcome of a species extinction because even at a local level the connections between species - the web of life - is very complex.