Policy, biodiversity, and conservation – join us in Edinburgh in October

Together with the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy’s Science and Technical Group and CIEEM, the BES and its Scottish Policy Group will be holding a one-day conference on 3 October 2014 at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The event will be looking at the role of monitoring and data collection in meeting the major technical and scientific challenges that arise from the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Questions that will be considered include:

• How can we better monitor the wide range of species and habitats that we need to protect as well as ecosystem services and natural capital?
• How do we define success?
• What new technologies and approaches are available to us?
• What challenges do new technologies and approaches bring to researchers, policy makers and conservation practitioners?

The conference will begin with a lecture by Professor Bill Sutherland (University of Cambridge; BES president) at the Botanic Garden on the evening of 2 October.

To complement the topic of the conference and allow researchers and practitioners to understand the policy environment in Scotland, we will also be holding an ‘introduction to policy in Scotland’ event on 2 October at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Attendees will be able to learn more about how scientific evidence can feed into policy making through individuals from Scottish Government and agencies, and researchers who are actively engaged in the process.

Booking is now open – students and members of the BES and CIEEM are able to book both days at a discounted price.

All those who register to attend the introduction to policy day will receive a 50% discount on the cost of attending the conference.

More information about both days can be found on our website.