Category Archives: Biodiversity
Challenges for Scotland’s Biodiversity: From the Soils to the Skies
Interested in discussing the challenges facing Scotland’s biodiversity to 2020 and helping to inform the development of Scotland’s draft Biodiversity Strategy? Come along to a meeting in Edinburgh on 8th – 9th March 2012. BES members can attend for FREE … Continue reading
Are modern landscapes driving seed dispersal to the brink of extinction?
Findings published in the journal Biological Conservation suggest habitat fragmentation and climate change are threatening seed dispersal around the globe. Dr Prasad, who led the international team of scientists, found that factors identified as the main contributors to biodiversity loss, … Continue reading
Public want farmers to be custodians of the landscape for future generations
Four out of five adults believe that farmers have a responsibility to look after the landscape and wildlife for future generations, according to a new survey commissioned by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). Fewer than a fifth of … Continue reading
Germany leads objection to specific biodiversity goals in the CAP.
A call for specific biodiversity goals to be integrated into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was abandoned at the insistence of Germany during a meeting of environment ministers in Brussels today (19 December). In its proposal for a biodiversity strategy … Continue reading
Do we need birds?
A conference at the University of Leicester in April next year will set out to explore this question, examining the importance of birds in the functioning of ecosystems. It will also explore the cultural services that birds provide and consider … Continue reading
BES Annual Meeting Underway in Sheffield
The BES Annual Meeting is underway in Sheffield, with a packed day of presentations and sessions so far. The meeting began with the BES Tansley Lecture, this year delivered by Dr Diana Wall from Colorado State University. Dr Wall discussed … Continue reading
Defra publishes two reports on the valuation of ecosystem services
The value of ecosystem services provided by the UK’s wildlife and habitats has been estimated in two research reports published by Defra today. These two primary valuation research studies examine benefits people obtain from the natural environment in the UK. … Continue reading
New England Biodiversity Strategy – What do you think?
Defra today published the Government’s new strategy for biodiversity, ‘Biodiversity 2020: A Strategy for England’s Wildife and Ecosystem Services‘. The BES Policy Team has been reading through the document today but we’ve so far only managed to get through half … Continue reading
Sowing the Seed for Improved Habitat Restoration
A new initiative from the Kew Millennium Seed Bank will supply commercial seed companies with large amounts of high quality wildflower seed, to help in the restoration of flower-rich meadows. Only 2% of this habitat now remains in England and … Continue reading
Implementation of IPBES
The creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was one of the most significant actions to come out of the 10th Conference Of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity held in Nagoya, Japan. The IPBES … Continue reading