Category Archives: Biodiversity
Biodiversity Offsetting: quid pro grow?
Biodiversity Offsetting: quid pro grow? On 9 May, Owen Paterson (Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) welcomed over 100 delegates to a Defra summit on biodiversity offsetting. Although this was a relatively short event, the level … Continue reading
Can governance in the UK Overseas Territories give environmental protection?
Can governance in the UK Overseas Territories give environmental protection? Concerns over environmental protection in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) have been voiced for a number of years, with funding, development and pollution as some of the main issues. The … Continue reading
Fish discards banned – but what’s the catch?
Fish discards banned – but what’s the catch? This post is by Katherine Maltby, an MBiolSci Biology with Conservation and Biodiversity student at the University of Sheffield. Her research interests span marine ecology and fisheries management, with a particular focus … Continue reading
Defra programmes and policies: an update
Over the past year, there have been a range of new initiatives from Defra to protect and enhance the natural environment, ranging from biodiversity offsetting to reviewing their public bodies. The all-party parliamentary group on Conservation and Wildlife met on … Continue reading
Greening the Common Agricultural Policy: MEPs vote on environmental measures
As part of the wider EU budget review for the period 2014-2020, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been under scrutiny over the past two years. In its current state, the CAP accounts for 40% of the EU budget, … Continue reading
Assessing the impacts of ash dieback
Spring is almost upon us, and early signs of budburst mean that trees will soon be in leaf. Warmer temperatures and leafing trees will both have implications for ash dieback, the disease found last year in ash trees in the … Continue reading
Environmental Stewardship and farmland birds: the evidence base
Declines in biodiversity have been observed across many habitats in the UK over recent decades. This is especially true in farmland habitats. Changes in practices have led to huge increases in productivity in farms, but this has come at the … Continue reading
Safeguarding the Jewels in the UK's Biodiversity Crown
The investment needed to conserve biodiversity in the UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) is three to five times higher than that spent by the UK Government currently to protect the endemic species and threatened habitats in these unique ecosystems. That is … Continue reading
Planning for 'No Net Loss' of Biodiversity
A briefing note published by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology this week (POSTnote 429) is critical of the quality of information, local authority decision-making, monitoring and research concerning the incorporation of biodiversity into planning decisions in England. Despite … Continue reading
Is this 'Bird Armageddon'?
Since 1966 UK bird population has decline by 44 million which amounts to just under a million birds a year (over 45 years), which is dismal November news indeed. Yesterday the RSPB published their most extensive survey of the UK’s … Continue reading