Biodiversity Research

Monitoring is usually undertaken as part of a project, however all too often it is not designed to provide information relevant to the questions being asked. If we can’t measure the impact that we are having on biodiversity, then how can we make informed decisions on how to improve it? Even if that project is a rewilding one, therefore open ended, it is still important to know what is happening to biodiversity as a result of our actions (or inaction).

Defra are looking to release an upgraded biodiversity impact calculator - the Defra Biodiversity Metric - to assist with the quantitative assessment of net gain and no net loss. Yet its failure to assess biodiversity means Ecosulis remains one step ahead. Sara King, Our Biodiversity Assessment Specialist, provides a summary in this article.

The UK government recently stated its ambition to "leave our environment in a better state than we inherited it", and to "not just protect and conserve, but enhance and restore habitats and landscapes". Adopting the slogan "Protect the best, recover the rest", unifies these ambitions. We not only need to protect the best regulations, policies and natural areas developed to date, but also forge ahead and engage new audiences in new conservation narratives suited to an era of accelerating change.