The discussion is expected to reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and what can be learned for the future, with discussion on:
- the impacts of conservation projects being paused as well as wildlife reserves becoming neglected during lockdown,
- increasing pressures on environmental charities and organisations as a result of loss in funding, along with increased environmental crime such as fly-tipping, illegal shooting and poaching,
- disruptions to biodiversity policy planning post-2020, along with delays in rolling out new programmes, such as the Biodiversity Metric offsetting tool from Natural England,
- benefits of reduced traffic, pollution and disturbances to wildlife, such as thriving bee populations, and how this progress on biodiversity recovery can be maintained post-lockdown,
- how best to sustainably accommodate increases in public use of green spaces, whilst protecting wildlife from over-use, and
- looking ahead at priorities for ensuring that recovery strategies take account of environmental policy and both species protection and biodiversity.
The Agenda
- Biodiversity and species protection - the Environment Bill and wider policy landscape
- Local approaches to environmental protection: Local Nature Recovery Strategies, monitoring biodiversity, and promoting species protection
- Incorporating biodiversity net gain within the planning system
- Emerging issues for the Office for Environmental Protection
- Priorities for ensuring biodiversity and species protection across key sectors
- Next steps for ecological restoration and protecting biodiversity
Chairs and speakers
Keynote contributions: Professor David Hill CBE, Chairman, Environment Bank, and Commissioner, Food Farming and Countryside Commission; Tony Juniper, Chair, Natural England; Professor Maria Lee, Professor of Law, University College London, and Co-Director, Centre for Law and the Environment and a senior speaker confirmed from Defra.
Speakers also confirmed: Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive, LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming); Harry Greenfield, Senior Land Use Policy Adviser, CLA; Tom Hunt, National Coordinator, Association of Local Environmental Records Centres; Dr Caroline Jessel, Chair, Kent Nature Partnership; Alec Taylor, Head of Ocean Policy, WWF UK; Cllr Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for a Healthy Oxford, Oxford City Council; Dr Carol Williams, Director of Conservation, Bat Conservation Trust and Stuart Wilson, Technical Lead for Environmental Impact Assessment and Biodiversity, Highways England.
Chairs: Laura Farris MP, Vice-chair, Environment All-Party Parliamentary Group and Baroness Young of Old Scone, Member, Science and Technology Committee (Lords), and Chairman, Woodland Trust.
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