Building Partnerships to Conserve Limestone Pavements

Limestone pavements support a wide range of biodiversity including a number of rare or threatened species. They are an internationally important habitat but despite this, there is virtually no evidence to support management decisions. My research has shown that over the last 50 years many areas of limestone pavement have seen reductions in the number of plant species and a decline in the abundance of characteristic and rare plant species. However, the extent of this vegetation change has not been recognised until now. This fellowship aims to support evidence-based conservation of limestone pavements. To do this I will improve communication between researchers and practitioners in the UK and internationally; develop best practice guidance for monitoring vegetation change and site condition; and develop a classification of limestone pavement vegetation. In collaboration with existing and new partners, I will create actionable recommendations and tools and mobilise the sector to improve the management of these rare and scientifically significant habitats.

To meet these goals I will establish a Limestone Pavement Partnership (LPP) which will provide a vehicle for bringing together practitioners from a wide range of organisations concerned with the management and conservation of limestone pavements to communicate research findings, identify research needs and ensure practitioners have the skills, knowledge and motivation needed to protect limestone pavements for the future. Through annual meetings, a website, biannual newsletters and training the LPP will engage with organisations to ensure the information needed to enact change is available. The partnership has strong support from collaborators with 14 organisations who have already agreed to participate and are keen to make the changes needed to sustainably manage UK limestone pavements. The LPP will make careful consideration of accessibility in all materials and events organised.

I will also work in close partnership with Natural England use existing data to co-develop tools for practitioners and enact change to guidance and practice. Using published literature and my own extensive experience of working in limestone pavements I will develop guidance for the monitoring of pavement vegetation and how monitoring should be implemented when making management changes within limestone pavements. Working with collaborators I will apply this guidance to management case studies. Common Standards Monitoring is the monitoring programme used across the UK to assess condition of protected habitats. I will work with Natural England and the other UK statutory bodies to revise the guidance, ensuring it is evidence based and more practical to apply. I will use a combination of analysis of existing data and consideration of other important factors to revise the guidance. The National Vegetation Classification has poor coverage of limestone pavements leaving site managers with no way to assess variation in pavement flora. I will create a classification filling a major knowledge gap and providing practitioners with a much needed tool. The outcomes from all of these activities will be shared through the LPP via the website, conference and training events.

At the moment there is no sharing of knowledge internationally even though limestone pavements do occur in other parts of the world. I will engage with researchers and practitioners in three key areas of limestone pavement in Ireland, Scandinavia and in Canada to learn about how pavements are managed, the challenges they face in managing these habitats and how they overcome them. I will also share the results of my own research and identify if there are shared research priories that could be developed together.

Through these activities this fellowship will completely change the conservation outlook for a protected habitat in the UK.