A New UK National Committee for Biodiversity

Events are moving fast on the international biodiversity scene, with the establishment of an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the re-focussing of the Global Change Programmes, including Diversitas , within a new structure, ‘Future Earth’. There is now even greater need for a UK biodiversity committee to provide a voice for IPBES and for the activities within Diversitas.

On 25th November 2011, an open meeting was held in London, hosted by the British Ecological Society, to gauge interest in establishing a national committee which could present a UK focus for IPBES discussions and for Diversitas. There was wide support for the idea, with added encouragement for us to ensure that it was fully representative of all relevant communities (terrestrial, marine, freshwater etc) and across institutions (universities, government, NGOs, institutes). The participants also encouraged the organisers, Professor Georgina Mace and Professor Dave Raffaelli, to ensure that the committee would be constituted and managed democratically, be flexible to changing circumstances and be well supported to ensure long-term viability and relevance. That committee would report to the Royal Society’s Global Environmental Research Committee, in place of Professors Mace and Raffaelli as the current Diversitas “focal point contacts”.

To this end there is now an invitation to members of the ecological science community in the UK, to forward to serve on a National Biodiversity Committee. This committee would be drawn from the grass-roots – it should not be seen as a clique of established organisations or interest groups. Anyone can stand, no areas or sub-disciplines are excluded. The idea is to have between 10 and 15 people serve on the committee which elects a chair, decides on Terms of Reference and reports to the Royal Society’s committee a few times a year. Should the number of candidates exceed that for a workable committee, then a voting process will be developed.

If you wish to stand for this committee, please register your interest by email to Dave Raffaelli (david.raffaelli@york.ac.uk), providing the details below by the end of April 2012:~
Name:
Institution/association:
Contact details/web page:
Field of biodiversity science:
Experience of serving on similar committees:
Nominator 1, name and contact details:
Nominator 2, name and contact details: