Forthcoming Policy Meetings
Putting a Price on the Priceless: Valuing Nature?
Tuesday 18th June, 6.45-9.30pm (registration from 6.00pm)
Together with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), the British Ecological Society is organising an evening discussion meeting and reception around the importance of protection and conserving our natural landscapes and ecology.
Update: Confirmed participants include Roger Harrabin as chair (BBC Environment Analyst), with panel members Rosie Hails (Natural Capital Committee and Chair of the Natural Capital Initiative), Tom Crompton (WWF) and Sarah Whatmore (Oxford University).
There is great interest amongst scientists, economists and policy-makers in the possibility of quantifying the value of the nature. Without putting a price, economic or otherwise, on natural assets, underpinning the delivery of life-support services (‘ecosystem services’) essential to humankind, so the argument goes, nature is ignored in decision-making, becoming ever-more degraded. But what difference is an emphasis on valuation making to the practical conservation of biodiversity and landscape management in the UK? How is valuation affecting business decisions and consumer choices? Is there the scientific evidence base to underpin these developments? And finally, is it moral to put a price on nature at all? Join us at this Question Time-style event to put your questions to our panel of experts.
Registration for this event is now open. A nominal charge applies, with members of the BES and RGS/ IBG benefiting from a 50% discount. The event will be held in the Education Centre, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR
Scotland Policy Group: Joint meeting with the Scottish Government Biodiversity Science Group & Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management
19 – 20 September 2013
Together with the Scottish Biodiversity Science Group (BSG) and the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM), the BES is organising a meeting at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The meeting follows our successful collaborative conference with the BSG and the British Society of Soil Science in Edinburgh in March 2012.
The refreshed Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (due to be launched in May 2013) will be the focus for the meeting. We will consider the research needs generated by the strategy and the challenges of knowledge exchange in science and policy.
Hitting the Target: Progress in Implementing the 2020 Biodiversity Strategy
The BES and the UK Biodiversity Research Advisory Group (UK BRAG) are collaborating to run a workshop at INTECOL in 2013 (18 – 23 August).
The session will consider the work currently ongoing in the UK, in Europe and internationally to meet the 2020 ‘Aichi’ targets. These targets were agreed by the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010.
The session will focus specifically on novel targets; those where new work has been developed in response to the Aichi Targets, either where the UK is leading the way or where researchers, practitioners and policy-makers can learn from experiences internationally.