At the tail end of last year, Richard Delahay, Gavin Wilson, Danielle Sherman, Jenny Stephenson, Hal Shepherd and Annie Hatt from RSK Biocensus attended the CIEEM Autumn Conference in Nottingham.
This two-day event focused on bridging evidence gaps in ecology and environmental management, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and policy to share innovations and best practices.
During day two of the conference, our very own Professor Richard (Dez) Delahay and Jenny Stephenson gave presentations. Dez discussed embedding research into ecological consultancy, showing how practitioners can build stronger evidence-based practices. Jenny presented insights on managing aquatic invasive non-native species (INNS), showing how early detection and evidence-based responses are crucial.
Evidence at the Policy Frontline
Discussions emphasized the role of ecological evidence in shaping policy and holding authorities accountable. Dr Ruth Waters from Natural England (NE) highlighted how evidence underpins a thriving society. She summarised some of the important ecological data initiatives undertaken by NE, such as the Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment which is collecting data on ecosystems across the UK. The project will produce a baseline assessment of natural assets by 2029, to inform conservation decision making.
Ellie Strike and Andy Gill from the OEP explored its role in holding Government and regulators accountable on environmental policy, and how it works to the UK’s Statistics Authority code of practice when generating evidence relating to environmental trends.
Nigel Doar, the head of science and research at the Wildlife Trusts described the work they have been doing to collect data and generate evidence to inform policy. He signposted some of the resources they have produced on a range of ecological issues, which can be found here.
Innovating Ecological Evidence
These sessions showcased the generation of new evidence in ecological practice. Richard Wilson talked about his novel research on Environment Bank sites undergoing restoration, investigating how invertebrate assemblage indices relate to changes in the biodiversity net gain metric. Other talks summarised research on the efficacy of conservation detection dogs for waxcap surveys, and novel water vole mitigation strategies at The Moors at Arne.
Scaling Up: Data & Policy Futures
Elizabeth Mitchell from Natural England talked about national-scale habitat data initiatives. These included the publicly available Living England Habitat map, which maps the extent and location of 16 different habitat types, and through regular updates, aims to track which habitats are growing and which are declining. This is complemented by the England Ecosystem Survey, which is the largest field survey ever undertaken in England. Detailed data on soil, vegetation and landscape change is being collected at thousands of sites over 5-year cycles. The project aims to allow national scale assessments of the health of vital natural resources and what that means for the ecosystem services they provide.
Building the Evidence Base
Dr Rebecca Smith from Conservation Evidence (CE) presented on how this pioneering group from Cambridge University have been banging the drum for evidence-led conservation. She also hosted a workshop on how companies like ours can gain CE accreditation by becoming “Evidence Champions”. This is a benchmark for organisations that can demonstrate that they apply science and evidence-based thinking and decision making as guiding principles in their work. This is something we have been trying to embed in our work at RSK Biocensus and so moves are afoot to consider embarking on the journey to getting the CE seal of approval.
The event was a definite eye opener, and we are looking forward to the next one. We are always delighted to support CIEEM and are proud of everyone who represented RSK Biocensus at the event.