In 2008 the city council adopted an exemplary Biodiversity Action Plan (BBAP), which highlights both the remarkable range of natural habitats to be found in and around the city and the challenges the city faces in protecting and nurturing them.

Bristol has everything from skylarks and hedgehogs to water voles and otters; it also has wildflower meadows, woodlands, ponds and rivers. These wild spaces and the species that rely on them have a valuable champion in the Avon Wildlife Trust, which manages almost forty Local Nature Reserves for the benefit of wildlife and the enjoyment of local people. From its centres at Willsbridge Mill and the newly restored Folly Farm, AWT runs numerous public events and education programmes, with the aim of fostering the connection between the city's people and their natural surroundings.

The BBAP aims to give Bristol's natural environment long-term security, and to this end it sets out a framework for how the council and its partners will work together to care for the natural environment and the species that live here.