A proposal launched yesterday to build a barrier across The Wash has been met with widespread condemnation from numerous conservation bodies. Businessman Peter Dawes has launched the Wash Tidal Barrier Corporation, which proposes to build a tidal barrage from Hunstanton to Skegness.

The proposals are in apparent defiance of an internationally recognised agreement, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as well as the fact the region is recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and designated under European Law as a Special Protection Area and a Special Area for Conservation. It is anticipated The Wash will receive even greater protection under the forthcoming Marine Bill.

Richard Powell, regional director of the RSPB said: ‘This scheme should be dismissed as a non-starter… …we’re talking about a site that supports a phenomenal amount of wildlife.’

The British Ecological Society invites members and readers of the blog to comment on this issue.

New research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B indicates that agricultural expansion and population growth must be incorporated into prioritising conservation efforts for biodiversity ‘hotspots‘, (areas of exceptionally high biological diversity).

Previous research has suggested that global conservation priorities should be set according to biodiversity hotspots alone, whereas other research has identified weaknesses in the ‘hotspots‘ approach for prioritising conservation effort, such as the incronguence of endemism and threat levels with biodiversity hotspots.

The new research takes into consideration future global change as a means of prioritising conservation effort. The published research exposed the existing global network of protected areas to potential future threats such as climate and land-use change using the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment criterion and looked at the threats against conservation value and the ability of biogeographic and geopolitical regions to take measures against forecasted change.

The research indicated that developing tropical nations with few resources for conservation but high levels of biological diversity such as Indonesia and Madagascar are most at risk in the future, and should be the focal points of global conservation efforts. Africa is predicted to face major land-use change in the future, contains areas of high biodiversity and may lack the capacity to cope with threats to biodiversity.

The authors recognise the need to create a network of new reserves in places that are likely to be threatened in the near future, to stand the best chance of both mitigating the effects of climate change and conserving biodiversity.

The BES invites members to comment on this article

New research published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment reveals the extent of the threat posted to the marine environment from non-native invasive species.

Researchers created a database of invasive species worldwide, examining 329 non- native invasive species and scoring each on a 1-4 scale, on the basis of their ecological impact, geographical extent, invasive potential and management difficulty. The database allows the identification of global patterns. The researchers conclude that interception and removal of the routes used for colonisation by the invasive species is the most effective strategy for reducing their future impacts.

This presents a real challenge however, given the range of routes by which species can colonise: shipping was found to be the most common, through transportation in ballast water or through hull-fouling.

The database could be used to inform conservation policy decisions and, through allowing a comparison between invasive species in similar habitats, can allow prediction of species likely to become invasive in a particular area.

The global map produced as a result of the study shows that the Mediterranean and North Seas are the marine areas most affected by non-native invasive species.

Access the database of Invasive Species (contributions to the database are welcome)

Link to POSTnote on Non-Native Invasive Species: produced April 2008 by the BES POST Fellow, Fay Collier. Find out more about the BES POST Fellowship

Proposals to develop the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) are to move ahead, following a statement today by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Two significant changes to the proposals have occurred, following consultation by HEFCE, to which the BES responded:

1. The timescale for introducing the REF will be pushed back by 12 months to allow a more comprehensive pilot of the new system to be run.
2. There will no longer be such a clear distinction between arrangements for science-based and non-science subjects, as originally proposed. Assessment of both sets of subjects will proceed through a system of metrics (including bibliometrics where appropriate) and peer-review by expert panels.

No information is yet available on whether scientists’ engagement in outward-facing activities, such as engagement with policy, will be considered in acdemics’ assessment under the REF, something which the BES would strongly support.

Links to Ministerial Statement and DIUS Press Release

The BES’s Ecology and Policy Blog has been featured in Times Online as one of “10 eco blogs for Earth Day” (22 April).

Access the full list of Eco Blogs

The Secretary of State for International Development, Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, launched DFID’s new five-year strategy for research yesterday in London. DFID’s portfolio of research is to be broadened from four to six major research priorities, putting research on climate change and growth centre stage. DFID will spend approximately £1 billion on development research over the next five years, working with Research Councils UK and international funding bodies to deliver its priorities.

As part of the over-arching strategy, DFID have launched research strategies for Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change. Funding for research on agriculture, fisheries and forestry will be doubled by 2010. DFID is to expand and diversity its research into climate change, focusing on: climate science, especially in Africa; tackling climate change in national and international policy; strategies for adapting to climate change; and mitigation and low carbon growth. DFID will establish an International Climate Change Network to provide in-country research and advisory services.

Lecture: Flying Green: Making Air Travel More Sustainable
Organised by: The Royal Institution
Time: 7.00pm – 8.30pm
Location: The Royal Institution, 21 Albermarle Street, London (Map)

Is there a way to make air travel more sustainable for those times when we can’t avoid flying? Boeing are building an airliner that uses biofuel to make its journeys. Hear from one of their top environmental strategists, Bill Glover, explaining how it works. Ian Poll, an expert from Greener By Design will also be on the panel, looking at what else society can do to make air travel more sustainable, and where air travel fits into the UK’s larger plan for getting greener. How much can we improve current technology and what will the future of aviation look like? Will we ever have an emission-free plane?

Plans to build one of Europe’s largest on-shore windfarms, on Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides, have been rejected after Scottish Ministers ruled that the farm would have “significant adverse impacts” on rare and endangered birds living on the peatlands. The Lewis windfarm would have generated enough energy to meet 10% of Scotland’s energy needs. Jim Mather, the Scottish Energy Minister denied that the rejection of the scheme undermined Scotland’s commitment to green energy, stating that 13 schemes had been approved by the Scottish National Party since May 2006, with further schemes planned.

Link to original article; The Guardian “Endangered birds come first: Scottish ministers say no to huge wind farm on Lewis peatland“

Sir Nicholas Stern has warned that his 2006 review of the economics of climate change has underestimated the risks posed by accelerating global warming. Speaking this week and reported in the Guardian today, Stern said that new scientific findings showed greenhouse gas emissions were are causing more damage than was understood in 2006, when he prepared his highly influential report. Stating that “emissions are growing much faster than we thought, the absorptive capacity of the planet is less than we thought [and] the risks of greenhouse gases are potentially bigger than more cautious estimates”, he called for increasing commitments from countries to cut emissions of greenhouse gases to be translated into action.

Original article: “I underestimated the threat, says Stern”, The Guardian, 18 April 2008
(with audio to accompany the story)

New EU-funded research has shown how biodiversity might be affected under future models of human-induced change. Researchers modelled the impact on biodiversity in four ‘future worlds’ and found that a reduction in biodiversity was likely in each scenario, even if environmentally-friendly approaches to development were taken.

The four ‘worlds’ were drawn from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) special report on emissions scenarios:

- Global Economic (A1F1): Fuels use, rapid economic growth and introduction of efficient technologies.

- Regional Economic (A2): Emphasis on local traditions, high population growth and low concern for economic development.

- Global Economic (B1): Global solutions for environmental and social sustainability, increased use of ‘green technologies’, such as wind and solar power.

- Regional Environmental (B2): Local rather than global solutions to economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Researchers found that B2 had the greatest increase in urban pressure on biodiversity at local levels, due to the development of numerous small human settlements. The greatest climate impacts were expected under A1F1, but with less pressure on biodiversity in the countryside, due to limited urbanisation in these areas.

Integration of predicted land use and human activity offers a new approach to modelling the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. It is hoped that in future the models can be further refined to offer a regional and species-level analysis and help policy-makers devise conservation strategies.

Araujo, M.B., Nogues-Bravo, D., Reginster, I. et al. (2008). Exposure of European biodiversity to changes in human-induced pressures. Environmental Science and Policy II. 11: 38-45