Raising the profile of biodiversity at the UK Parliament
2 November 2009, London (United Kingdom). The British Ecological Society (BES) and Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) held an evening reception in Westminster, London, on 27 October, to highlight biodiversity loss to Members of the UK Parliament, Peers and policy-makers. The reception was supported by Countdown 2010, together with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum.
An audience of over 120 academics, representatives of NGOs, Government departments and agencies, delegates from business and politics joined the BES and IEEM at the event, which saw the launch of a position statement by these two organisations, setting out the role of science and professionalism in ‘Conserving and Managing Biodiversity Beyond 2010’.
The evening was chaired by Lord Selborne FRS, with speeches from: Sarah Robinson, IUCN-UK National Committee, speaking on behalf of Sebastian Winkler, Head of Countdown 2010; Pavan Sukhdev, leader of the ‘TEEB’ (the economics of ecosystem services and biodiversity) study, and Professor Robert Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. One recurring theme, from both speeches and the lively question and answer session which followed, was the importance of generating widespread recognition of the true value of biodiversity and ecosystem services amongst the wider public, as well as the need for a radical departure from a ‘business-as-usual’ approach.
Whilst the 2010 target to halt biodiversity loss in the UK and in Europe has been successful in mobilising action, it is widely acknowledged that it will not be met. Sarah Robinson stressed the need for an inspirational, tangible, post-2010 target to drive biodiversity conservation in the future. The very many ecological researchers and practitioners who comprise the BES and the IEEM have a key role to play in delivering the sound science needed to underpin the new target, and to ensure that progress against it is appropriately and accurately monitored. The reception marked a key step in highlighting the importance of ecological science and practice to policy-makers, and in raising the profile of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity in the UK Parliament.
