Author Archives: Policy_Team
"Water, water all around and not a drop to drink"
Following on from our post over the growing concerns about the state of the UK’s freshwater resources, in May of this year. A joint report by the Fabian Society and the WWF ‘Running Dry’ has brought in an edge of … Continue reading
Natural England Issues First Badger Cull License
Natural England yesterday issued the first license to cull badgers, under the Coalition Government’s controversial plan to allow free-shooting of the animals by consortia of farmers. Rather than vaccinate badgers, as is being trialled in Wales, in England the Government … Continue reading
Lessons from the past: science-policy through history – Policy Lunchbox
The role of science in informing policy-making is not a new phenomenon, as the research of Dr William Thomas, Junior Research Fellow at Imperial College London and speaker at yesterday’s Policy Lunchbox, reveals. There is a long history of various … Continue reading
New POSTnote encapsulates land sharing vs land sparing debate
A POSTnote from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology ‘Balancing Nature and Agriculture’ published online this week outlines the ongoing debate over land sparing versus land sharing in sustainable management of agricultural land for biodiversity conservation. Much biodiversity is … Continue reading
1 in 5 invertebrate species threatened with extinction
That is the shocking headline from a report by the IUCN, IUCN Species Survival Commission and the Zoological Society of London, due to be presented at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, tomorrow (7th September). ‘Spineless: Status and Trends … Continue reading
Better communciation of science to the public is critical to tackling major environmental challenges
There is a pressing need for researchers to better communicate science and technology developments to the general public, says Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in a publication last week. Currently, public … Continue reading
Environmental Stewardship Delivers Ecosystem Services Underpinning Food Security
The relationship between agriculture and ecosystem services is a strong one. Farming can contribute to critical services including food security and economic growth, maintenance of cultural landscapes, rural employment and (when managed correctly) provision of valuable habitat for a significant … Continue reading
NERC internships with business, policy and the third sector
The Natural Environment Research Council has launched a call for internships, inviting existing researchers to apply for projects of up to four months, based in businesses, policy or third sector organisations. Interns will explore and demonstrate how business, policy or … Continue reading
Science has an important role to play to tackle food insecurity in a changing climate
The input of research scientists will be essential in addressing the issue of food insecurity in the face of a rapidly changing climate. This is the message from a new article produced by members of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture … Continue reading
Arctic could be free of sea ice in the summer 'in a decade'
Sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing at a rate 50% faster than projected by scenarios prepared by polar scientists according to new data from the CryoSat-2 probe. The probe, the first purpose built satellite to study the thickness of … Continue reading