What will be the next big issues to impact the environment?

For a number of years now the BES has been lucky enough to be involved in the annual Horizon Scan exercise.

British Ecological Society image of meerkats

As further explained on the Cambridge Conservation Initiative webpage, “horizon scanning is the systematic search for, and examination of, potential threats, opportunities and developments that are not widely recognised. It is the first step in identifying, analysing and communicating hypotheses or insights about the future.” The aim therefore is to highlight both risks and opportunities to the conservation of biological diversity that are not yet widely known by conservation scientists and decision makers. See the 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity for further information.

This year two of our BES Policy Committee members, Dr Nathalie Pettorelli a Senior Research Fellow at ZSL and Dr Alex Collins a Lecturer in Environmental Sustainability at Imperial College London, are going to be involved in the Horizon Scan exercise.

Nathalie and Alex are working to identify novel issues which have clear implications for the environment and are interested to hear your suggestions. Ideally any issue sent to them will be outlined in a paragraph of about 200 words, and be accompanied with supporting references.

Please send your suggestions to Nathalie and Alex (email addresses given as hyperlinks) either as soon as possible or at latest by the 18 May.

If you have any questions about the process or getting involved please contact Camilla Morrison-Bell, BES Policy Manager.