2024

GWCT Senior Advisor Mike Swan discusses the reintroduction of wolves and other species in Europe and the UK, highlighting challenges posed by strict protection statuses.

The UK is considered nature-depleted by the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), but alternative metrics show better biodiversity rankings. Addressing the biodiversity crisis requires both conservation efforts and a careful approache.

The analysis we did of grouse moor management’s contribution to government policy identified 12 public goods and services from food production to recreation and biodiversity.

The year has been dominated by two policy eras – the last weeks of the Conservative government and the first few weeks of the new Labour one. But perhaps surprisingly the key messages during these eras have been broadly the same, focussing on water quality, ELMS and nature recovery. 

Grouse shoot licensing is now in operation. After acceptance of an application, compliance with licensing and code requirements will be monitored through declarations and the provision of information returns.

NatureScot announced that the grouse shoot licensing scheme will launch on 15th July 2024.

This week is insect week and on the back of the recent publication of a GWCT scientific paper on invertebrate abundance changes over a 50-year period at the Sussex study site¹, it led me to explore the fascinating world of insects – all over again!

Members and regular readers of our messages about the success of bottom-up approaches to nature conservation will be aware that we call those private land managers, working conservationists.  But in truth we probably should also be emphasising the value of farming conservationists.

On 30th May GWCT Newsround reported on a think piece by Hong Jiang a PhD student at York University which asked how we achieve the expansion of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM) in line with the ambitions of COP15 and the new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The GBF commits to 23 action-orientated targets by 2030.

Is the focus on carbon distracting from the benefits of considering soil health in the round?