Biodiversity can be thought of as the wealth and diversity of wildlife that we have around us and is what we might previously have thought of as Nature Conservation.

During the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 international and national commitments were made. Many of these had to be implemented at a local level. The United Kingdom signed the Convention on Biological Diversity which states that the Government shall "Rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems and promote the recovery of threatened species".

In 1994 the UK Biodiversity Steering Group launched the UK Action Plan for biodiversity. Since then action plans for species and habitats thought to be threatened nationally have been produced and are periodically reviewed. These form the basis of Cambridgeshire's action plans, along with other locally important habitats and species. The County's Biodiversity Action Plans have been put together by a local steering group, incorporating many organisations. Peterborough City Council is an active member of both the Biodiversity and Natural Networks Partnerships.