We take as the basis for our response paragraph 17 of the Report of the House of Commons Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee on "The Future for Allotments", which reads:
'17. Both cultivated and untended plots contribute to maintaining biodiversity. Evidence from the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners shows that:
"... allotment garden plots and allotment garden sites have on average an up to 30 per cent higher species diversity than urban parks, and hence are ecologically more valuable."
The National Survey in 1993 found that weedkillers and fungicides were used by around half of all allotment holders, although they were employed sparingly. Unused plots often offer a haven for wildlife while some tended plots act as seed-banks for rare vegetable species'.
We welcome the explicit reference to allotments on page 19 of "Making Biodiversity Happen", and welcome the notion of enhancing biodiversity on allotment plots and allotment sites through deliberate planting, particularly where the plants concerned have a direct benefit to plotholders, as with companion planting to divert or discourage pests (as an alternative to using chemical controls) and to provide forage for bees.
Nevertheless, the potential value of allotment sites to the enhancement of local biodiversity is far greater than this, particularly in respect of rare 'weeds' on derelict and cultivated areas alike and of vegetables and fruits which have been selectively bred by plotholders from their own seed to succeed under highly localised conditions. References in "Making Biodiversity Happen" to the role of local authorities in managing their lands in ways which enhance biodiversity are clearly relevant here, and measures are required to assist local authorities to document existing biodiversity on allotment land and to encourage cultivation and site management practices which help to maintain it. These measures should be incorporated into the regime for Best Practice in Allotment Management advocated by "The Future for Allotments" report, and should be equally applicable under schemes for local self-management of allotment sites. It must be recognised that few allotment gardeners or allotment associations have the requisite skills to assess the biodiversity value of their land, and there are potential conflicts to be addressed between biodiversity enhancement, the desire to maximise crop output, and the legal requirement in many leases for land to be kept 'weed free'. Ideally, the skills for documenting biodiversity and for implementing the relevant sections of the Best Practice regime will be obtained through the Local Agenda 21 process, which is why it is essential to encourage allotment gardeners to participate in Local Agenda 21 by every means possible, a need which our Group is actively addressing through our QED Virtual Potting Shed Project*. The need to incorporate biodiversity considerations into the Best Practice regime for Allotment Management should also inform current and future discussions between the DETR, LGA, LGMB and NSALG on means to implement the recommendations of "The Future for Allotments" Report.
The QED Allotments Group also welcomes the reference on page 18 of "'Making Biodiversity Happen" to opportunities outside the classroom to learn more about biodiversity. Again, this is an area in which allotment sites have enormous but largely untapped potential, which should also be addressed under the regime for Best Practice in Allotment Management and through the Local Agenda 21 process. Our own experience with using the Dartford Road allotment site for education in recyclingÝ demonstrates what can be done, and a similar exercise for biodiversity would be a useful exemplar.
Richard Wiltshire (Chair: QED Allotments Group), July 21 1998
* http://www.btinternet.com/~richard.wiltshire/potshed1.htm
Ý http://www.dggs.demon.co.uk/finished.htm
To: Mr David Stone, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Room 902 D, Tollgate House, Houlton Street, Bristol BS2 9DJ
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