'Think Globally, Act Locally,' has become the catch phrase that best represents this approach.

At a local level, the City Council produced an Environmental Strategy for Cardiff in 1990. The Cardiff Leisure Strategy was approved in 1994 and endorses the need to protect areas considered to have nature conservation value within the City boundaries. In 1996, Supplementary Planning Guidance to the City of Cardiff Local Plan was issued through a document entitled 'City of Cardiff Nature Conservation Strategy'. The latest document produced by Cardiff County Council with respect to Biodiversity was Wild About Cardiff: Cardiff’s Local Biodiversity Action Plan in March 2002.

Although the documents listed above provide an excellent insight into the natural environment of Cardiff and clearly lay out the Council’s aspirations towards nature conservation, they pre-date the construction of Cardiff Barrage and the development of the freshwater lake behind it. The Conservation Strategy is intended to supplement guidance previously provided by Cardiff County Council, and act as a document detailing what species are present within Cardiff Bay and what work is associated with protecting this new and developing environment. It should be emphasised that although Cardiff Bay is relatively new, it has already developed into a quality environment.

It is desirable to have a coherent approach to nature conservation within Cardiff Bay. As new developments are constructed, it is necessary to have a document available for guidance. This strategy can be considered the first step towards developing planning guidance for Cardiff Bay, as it will be reviewed annually and will evolve into a tool that can be used to dictate the direction that future projects will take. As well as directing the conservation of the flora and fauna within Cardiff Bay, this Plan will act as a tool to promote the Bay as an educational resource.