Last week I took part in the Scotland’s Biodiversity conference at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As conference go, there was knowledge and inspiration filling the rooms, there were questions I hadn’t pondered before, some answers that surprised me, some that re-affirmed what I already suspected. What was special about this conference though, was that I got to share the whole experience with an enthusiastic group of students from the Conservation Science honours course!
For the students, it was their first ever conference, and it certainly was inspiring to see them chat to speakers and engage with wide-ranging conservation topics – from policy, natural capital, agri-environment management, peatland restoration all the way to the conservation action plan of the Scottish wildcat. Many jolly discussions followed, inspired by the talks we saw and the conversations we had with the speakers.
Topics I found particularly interesting include whether conservation should be focused on species-specific measures or broader ecosystem functionality, as well as the effect of climate change on species richness-oriented conservation. For example, should one of conservation’s goals be to maintain and/or increase biodiversity (most often quantified through species richness)? Climate change might make Scotland more biodiverse, but we probably wouldn’t be calling that a conservation success story!
Eladio Fernandez-Galiano from the Council of Europe brought up the issue of Scotland potentially losing the species that make Scottish nature Scottish. Invasive species also made an appearance among talks, and it was intriguing to ponder whether species, colonising a certain area due to climate change and range shifts, should be classified as native or invasive. A particularly strong point of the conference for me were the three presentations delivered by pupils, part of the Scottish Natural Heritage’s ReRoute programme, and researchers and academics. It was fantastic to hear about young people’s views on conservation directly from them, and what excellent speakers they were – their presentations were clear, well-organised, and they answered questions from the audience like pros!
I was happy to present the results of my research with John Godlee and Isla Myers-Smith at the conference. It was my first time being part of a panel discussion, along with some of the other presenters, which was also fun!
Overall, it was great to have a biodiversity event right here in Edinburgh, only a quick cycle away!
