A conference at the University of Leicester in April next year will set out to explore this question, examining the importance of birds in the functioning of ecosystems.

It will also explore the cultural services that birds provide and consider how Government and non-Governmental organisations are engaging with this new approach in policy. Debating the philosophical and practical problems surrounding the ecosystem services approach will be a key feature of the conference, as well as finding new opportunities for bird conservation. It will cover the following topics:
• The provisioning, regulating and supporting ecosystem services provided by birds, avian functional ecology and relationships between bird diversity and ecosystem functioning;
• The cultural significance of birds and how this is valued;
• How Governments, policymakers and conservation organisations around the world are responding to and implementing the ecosystem services approach;
• Management strategies, tradeoffs and the consequences for traditional species based and practical
management.

The conference scope will be international, with a focus on how to integrate ecosystem service science with practical bird conservation into policy. It is aimed at academics, research and conservationorganisations as well as statutory government agencies and those engaged in policy, advocacy and conservation management.

Further information and details on how to register.

Registration is now open for this two day conference in April 2012, organised by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The programme and a word version of the booking form is attached. Further details are available on the conference website (http://www.sac.ac.uk/sacsepaconf) including a brief overview of each of the four Keynote Speakers.

The report of the joint British Ecologcial Society – UK Biodiversity Research Advisory Group (BRAG) meeting on the future of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment and Intergovernmental Science – Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is now available. The session was held as part of the BES Annual Meeting at the University of Sheffield, on 13th September.

In response to an online debate run by the Economist, 91% of participants have concluded that ‘untouched wildernesses have a value beyond the resources and other utility that can be extracted from them’. The debate ran between 4th and 14th October, with speakers including Pavan Sukhdev, leader of the TEEB (the Economics of Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity) study.

Full details of the debate are available here.

The value of ecosystem services provided by the UK’s wildlife and habitats has been estimated in two research reports published by Defra today. These two primary valuation research studies examine benefits people obtain from the natural environment in the UK.

Using expert judgement and participatory valuation approaches, the study ‘Economic valuation of the benefits of ecosystem services delivered by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan’ estimated the value of seven ecosystem services delivered by different UK BAP habitats and the changes in provision of these services through biodiversity conservation measures over the next 20 years.

The report on ‘The Benefits of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England and Wales’ assessed the economic value of changes in biodiversity and associated ecosystem services which will result from future policy scenarios for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

The reports estimate the wildlife covered by the UK BAP and Sites of Special Scientific Interest is worth approximately £1.5 billion per year to the UK.

Story taken from the Natural Capital Initiative website.

The creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was one of the most significant actions to come out of the 10th Conference Of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity held in Nagoya, Japan. The IPBES is a panel based in part on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It aims to amalgamate evidence for future biodiversity policy, and is expected to become a focal point for public and media awareness of biodiversity issues.

Since its beginnings a number of meetings have been held including a key workshop between Defra and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) in July 2011. The workshop explored how best to engage government with science-policy and coordinate UK Government, scientists, NGO’s and business.

The BES is also holding a session on the IPBES at the BES Annual Meting in Sheffield entitled ‘Where next for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment and IPBES?’ on Tuesday 13th September at 11.15am. To attend the Annual Meeting and book a place at the session visit the BES website.

Such events are in preparation for the first international plenary of the IPBES due to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in October 2011. At the plenary government representatives will consider the draft principles and procedures governing the work of IPBES, the initial elements of the work program, processes for nomination and selection of host institution(s) and host country for the platform.

The Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, (IEEM) has published a report entitled ‘Closing the gap: Rebuilding ecological skills in the 21st Century’. The work, which was commissioned by IEEM, was undertaken by the Management Standards Consultancy and built upon initial IEEM research.

The report collated information from literature, surveys, interviews and workshops involving practicing ecologists and environmental managers at all stages of their careers, as well as other stakeholders, employers and graduates.

Investigation found a continuing skills gap and skills shortages in:
• Species identification, especially of invertebrates, fish and lower plants.
• Ecological survey, sampling, data assessment, evaluation and monitoring skills for fish and invertebrates.
• Habitat creation, restoration and management in marine, coastal and upland environments.
• Techniques to control the spread of invasive species and wildlife diseases.

In addition:
• There are knowledge gaps amongst ecologists regarding the application of environmental economics for the valuation of ecosystem services.
• Freshwater, coastal and marine systems and processes are poorly understood in comparison to terrestrial systems.
• Understanding of the application of spatial planning, as it relates to environmental planning, is weak.
• Understanding of environmental legislation and its policy implications is weak in some sectors.

Knowledge gaps found by the report have raised concerns that a lack of capacity among ecologists and consultants could have significant implications for the implementation of environmental policies and for meeting EU biodiversity targets. This comes at a time when knowledge is needed now more than ever as the ecosystem approach reaches the forefront of government thinking.

IEEM is now calling for Government to commit to policy and funding support for a new strategy to address the issue. IEEM suggest the new strategy should be government led, and involve education institutions, skills agencies, cross-sector employers, and societies to help encourage and train people to bridge the gaps in knowledge.

Britain’s largest pollinator study has been launched today. The project led by Professor Jane Memmott, from the University of Bristol, will be conducted in twelve cities across Britain to determine how well pollinators such as bees and butterflies are doing in urban areas.

The study has been launched to investigate the idea that urban areas offer an unexpected haven for insect life, as city gardens provide a year long supply of pollen and nectar compared to short lasting unreliable food sources and monoculture crops found in nature reserves and on farmland.

Researchers will collect data to identify both insect and plant species, and measure abundance and density of pollinators in cities compared to those found in nature reserves and on farmland. This will allow scientists to build up a picture of what plants and insects are present in certain habitats, how well populations are doing and understand what plants insects are feeding on.

The results of the study could be key to helping boost pollinator numbers, which are currently in decline across the UK. Furthermore, over 80% of plants (including those that produce the food we rely on) depend on insect pollination to reproduce. By identifying where insects are doing well, we can work to improve their environment and to aid future pollinator population recovery.

The NERC Valuing Nature Network has today launched an ‘Announcement of Opportunity’, inviting proposals for project funding. The deadline for applications is 22nd September.

Full details, including the science plan outlining the two central themes under which submissions are being sought, are available from the VNN website.

Find out more about the VNN by reading our previous blog posts on this topic.

The NERC Valuing Nature Network (VNN) will release a call for proposals next week with a deadline of 16th September.

The VNN is an interdisciplinary network of natural, social and economic scientists. The proposals being sought through this initial phase will be for year-long projects, expected to report in the October 2012. It is anticipated that the initial projects will lay the ground for a more substantive phase two, with the results of the initial projects informing the second research call.

The announcements follows a series of discipinary scoping workshops which have taken place in London over the past six weeks, culminating in an interdisciplinary town hall meeting at the end of June. The workshop series brought together researchers to consider the challenges to putting a value on natural capital and the research questions which the network should seek to address. As a result, two major themes have emerged in the work of the VNN:

‘1. Developing a trans-disciplinary framework for the valuation of stocks of natural capital and flows of ecosystem services’.
Natural and social scientists to work together to develop integrated methods for monetary and non-monetary valuation of natural capital and ecosystem services. Teams also to work to identify how natural capital and ecosystem services can be managed sustainably.

‘2. Characterising the socio-ecological system knowledge required to properly capture the value of biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural resources’.
Evaluate the information available in relation to the valuation of natural resource stocks and ecosystem service flows, recognising the limitations and uncertainties in the current knowledge base. Identify ways to improve the accessibility and the integration of this existing data, including socioeconomic data sets. Develop integrated models of natural capital and ecosystem services at relevant spatial and temporal scales.

Further information is available from the VNN website.