BES Ecology & Policy Blog

BES Annual Meeting Hitting the Headlines

Policy_Team — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:55:19 +0000

All the latest news from this week’s BES Annual Meeting (taking place until lunchtime on 9th September at the University of Leeds) is available on the BES Annual Meeting Blog. We’ve been making a splash in the media with features from the conference, with stories on migratory birds, bumblebees and marine renewable energy all hitting the headlines over the past few days.

Don’t forget that you can also stay up to date with news from the conference by following us on Twitter. Search for #bes2010.

BES Annual Meeting Begins at the University of Leeds

Policy_Team — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:58:29 +0000

The British Ecological Society’s annual meeting begins today at the University of Leeds. The meeting is Europe’s largest gathering of ecologists. Hundreds of scientific papers will be presented at the meeting. Highlights include:

The BES Lecture, given by Professor Andrew Watkinson, director of Living with Environmental Change and former director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia.
Society faces a range of challenges from climate change to biodiversity conservation. Addressing these challenges demands a robust evidence framework for action. In addition, research increasingly needs to be seen to stimulate the economy, particularly the green economy. In his lecture, entitled Making a difference: research with impact, Professor Watkinson will examine how researchers should respond to these challenges.

In his Presidential Address, BES President Professor Charles Godfray will discuss Mosquitoes, malaria and ecology, arguing that ecology is critical for successfully controlling diseases spread by insects. We know surprisingly little about the ecology of major insect vectors of malaria in Africa, what they eat and how their populations are regulated. Professor Godfray will describe recent novel ideas for controlling mosquito vectors of malaria, and explore how ecological sciences can assist in their deployment.

Ecologists will report new findings on how inbreeding among bumblebees in the Western Isles of Scotland could be increasing their risk of extinction; explain why white-clawed crayfish from running water are thinner than those living in still water – information vital to saving this species from extinction in England and Wales; and reveal new ways of monitoring the impacts of Wave Hub, a site off Cornwall where wave energy converters are tested.

The BES team will be blogging from the annual meeting, at http://britishecologicalsociety.org/blog/2010am/. You can also follow news from the meeting on Twitter (#BES2010).

Britain’s Carbon Footprint Has Grown since 1990

Policy_Team — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:09:02 +0000

Professor Bob Watson, Chief Scientist at Defra, will state that Britain’s carbon footprint has grown, not shrunk, since 1990, in a BBC Radio 4 documentary next Monday (6th September). Professor Watson will say that calculations taking into account the carbon embedded in products which Britain imports, from countries such as China and India, reveal that Britain’s emissions have grown by 12%, not declined by 15-16% as current accounting proceedures show. Under the current system of counting emissions, greenhouse gases generated in the manufacture of goods are assessed in the country of production, not consumption.

A spokesman from the Department for Energy and Climate Change said “Our position is that greenhouse gas emissions have been cut by 22% since 1990. While some emission reductions have resulted from the trend for manufacturing to move overseas, international rules state that emissions from manufacturing are counted by the country of production”.

In the documentary, ‘Uncertain Climate’, Prof. Watson will urge the Government to ‘be more open’ about the carbon accounting proceedure and what the emission reduction figures do and do not cover.

Original Source: Joel Taylor, Metro, 3 September

NERC-Defra Marine Renewable Energy Sandpit

Policy_Team — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:53:41 +0000

Expressions of interest are invited to attend a 3 day sandpit as part of the NERC/Defra Marine Renewable Energy Research Programme.

The aim of the sandpit is to fund research project(s) which will develop an understanding of the environmental benefits and risks of up-scaling marine renewable energy schemes on the quality of marine bioresources (including biodiversity) and biophysical dynamics of open coasts.

The sandpit will be taking place from the 8-10 December 2010.
The closing date for expressions of interest is 16:00 on Thursday 14 October 2010

For further information and contacts please visit the programme webpage.

BES Members: Complete Expertise Questionnaire Online

Policy_Team — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:32:16 +0000

Do you want to increase the impact of your research?

The BES maintains a database of over 500 ecologists who are prepared to comment upon a range of ecological issues. Members of the BES are now able to join them by registering your expertise via our *new online questionnaire*.

Do you want your science to inform decisions which shape society? Is it important to you that policies are evidence-based? Are you looking for ways to communicate the excitement of your research to the public?

By joining the BES expertise database you can make sure that you are kept informed of all the opportunities that the Society can offer to increase the wider impact of your research.

– Find out about workshops and events
– Contribute to a briefing, consultation or inquiry on a topic you are passionate about.
– Be first in line when the media contacts the BES, looking for a comment

The online questionnaire consists of 19 questions and should take no more than 10 minutes of your time.

BES Policy Internship Now Open for Applications

Policy_Team — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:26:43 +0000

The BES is now recruiting for a Policy Intern, to join the BES Policy Team in Lonodon for two days each week for up to three months. The internship will begin in October. This opportunity is unpaid but the BES will reimburse travel expenses within London and cover lunch costs of up to £5 per day.

Full details of this position and how to apply are available on the BES website.

Applications close at 9.00am on Friday 17th September.

Interviews will be held on Friday 1st October.

IEEM Conference: Biodiversity Beyond 2010: Missed Targets, New Opportunities

Policy_Team — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:24:40 +0000

2-4 November 2010
Dublin, Ireland

The conference aims to:

- investigate how biodiversity policies and legislation including the Common Agricultural Policy, Fisheries Policy and the Marine and Coastal Access Bill) are affecting and driving biodiversity conservation;
– showcase biodiversity tools and methods available to ecologists; and
- review case studies of some of the more practical methods used in biodiversity projects.

Keynote speakers include:

Mairead McGuinness, MEP
John Cross, NPWS
Damon Stanwell-Smith, UNEP WCMC
John Finn, TEAGASC
Patricia Almeida-Villella MIEEM, Marine Management Organisation
Neil Wellum, Marine Management Organisation
Liam Lysaght, Director, National Biodiversity Data Centre
Matthew Jebb, Director of Dublin Botanical Gardens
Heather Thompson, Chief Executive, Ulster Wildlife Trust
Paul Wilkinson, Head of ‘A Living Landscape’, Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts

To view the full programme and to book you place, please visit the IEEM conference webpage.

Businesses harness biodiversity to boost profits

Policy_Team — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:07:53 +0000

Companies are increasingly seeking business opportunities in preserving biodiversity rather than viewing it as a threat to their profits, according to a new McKinsey survey. The survey of some 1,500 executives of companies in all global regions and industries found that 59% of respondents view biodiversity as an opportunity rather than a threat to their company. They identified opportunities to boost corporate reputations by taking action to preserve biodiversity or develop new products from renewable natural resources.

Policy Priorities for UK Nature Conservation Identified

Policy_Team — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:51:36 +0000

A group led by Professor Bill Sutherland at Cambridge University has identified the top 25 issues in conservation in greatest need of attention from policy-makers; either through the production of new or amendments to existing policy. The group, representing governmental organisations, NGOs and academia, focused on those areas where there may be options to fill gaps, improve implementation or where new research may be required. The result was a long-list of 117 issues, honed to 25 through a two-day workshop and a voting process. Sutherland et. al. intend that the list be of use to amongst others, policy-makers, providing knowledge on areas in need of attention and the policy options which may be available to address these areas and researchers, who can use the paper as a guide to policy-relevant, scientific questions which could form the focus of research efforts.

Issues identified in the paper cover both terrestrial and marine environments, ranging from protected areas and climate change, to habitat banking, restoring floodplain functionality for nature conservation and ecosystem services, peatland restoration, nanotechnology, marine spatial planning and non-native invasive species.

To take ‘protected areas’ as an example of the authors’ approach, Sutherland et.al. identify that the management of protected sites was developed at a time when landscape-change was generally directly human-induced and was therefore largely controllable. How should these areas be managed now, given the indirect and unpredictable effects of climate change? Policy options given include designating sites now which are likely to make an important biodiversity contribution in the future. The authors then identify a number of research questions, including the need to investigate what site properties enable widlife resilience under climate change.

The authors acknowledge in the discussion section that ‘ecosystem services’ is a thread running throughout the paper, and recognise that the future of biodiversity conservation will embrace this approach. Therefore they call on policy-makers and the research community to explore how policy instruments promoting ecosystem conservation can best be directed to maximise benefits for biodiversity.

The authors recommend that the exercise be repeated for the UK every five years and encourage other countries to carry out a similar activity.

Sutherland, W. J., Albon, S. D., Allison, H., Armstrong-Brown, S., Bailey, M. J., Brereton, T., Boyd, I. L., Carey, P., Edwards, J., Gill, M., Hill, D., Hodge, I., Hunt, A. J., Le Quesne, W. J. F., Macdonald, D. W., Mee, L. D., Mitchell, R., Norman, T., Owen, R. P., Parker, D., Prior, S. V., Pullin, A. S., Rands, M. R. W., Redpath, S., Spencer, J., Spray, C. J., Thomas, C. D., Tucker, G. M., Watkinson, A. R. and Clements, A. , REVIEW: The identification of priority policy options for UK nature conservation. Journal of Applied Ecology, no. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01863.x

Can Biodiversity Learn Lessons from Climate Change? CCI Wants Your Views

Policy_Team — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:25:26 +0000

The Cambridge Conservation Initiative, a partnership of NGOs and departments at the University of Cambridge, is seeking your views on whether the way in which climate change has been communicated to policy-makers and the public can provide lessons for the communication of biodiversity loss. How can biodiversity move up the political agenda, with policy-makers and members of the public recognising the seriousness implications of its loss? Will studying how climate change has moved to the forefront of policy and public awareness help in achieving a similar shift for biodiversity?

Your views will help the CCI and the conservation community more widely, in efforts to make sure that biodiversity loss achieves a higher policy and public profile.

You are invited to complete a brief survey, giving your view on 35 statements, drawn from interviews with experts in climate change and biodiversity conservation. This should take you no more than 20 minutes. The deadline for completion of the survey is 31st August.