27 February 2024

Challenges for Arable Biodiversity Workshop: threats & opportunities

  • Location / Venue:Hill Barn Conference Centre, Lower Swell, Gloucestershire, GL54 1LH
  • Date / Time: 27 February 2024 9:45AM to 28 February 2024 4:30PM
  • Organiser:Philip Wilson
  • Price: £0.00
  • Places available 0

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This event is kindly being funded by Cotswold National Landscapes through their Farming in Protected Landscapes programme

The biodiversity of arable land throughout Europe is still in decline, despite the efforts of farmers and scientists and the help from agri-environment schemes. This conference hopes to investigate some ways forward for our arable wildlife. The conference is hosted by Fir Farm.

Programme (subject to change)

Day 1

Introduction sessions: 9.45-10.30
Phil Wilson/Jane Parker: Introduction to Fir Farm and the aims of the meeting
Marian Spain, CEO Natural England: The future of farmland biodiversity
Jonathan Storkey: Changes in agriculture and impacts on biodiversity

Status & Trends 10.45-12.30
Phil Wilson: Trends in distribution and diversity in the UK’s arable flora
Gavin Siriwardena, BTO: Farmland birds UK
Julie Ewald, GWCT: Sussex study and invertebrates
Bob Haycock: Welsh farmland birds

12.30-12.45 Field walk introduction
Louis Fell Fir Farm

12.45-14.00 Lunch

14.00-15.00 Field walk – Hill Barn
Phil Wilson, Nick Adams

15.30-17.00 Case Studies
Ed Cross: Abbey Farm, Norfolk
Vaclav Zámečník: Czech partridges
Scott Brown: Cotswolds National Lanscape

17.15-18.15
Stefan Meyer: Arable flora of the Aegean Islands

Day 2

9.30-10.45 Threats and opportunities – towards integrated land management planning
Hannah Gibbons: National Trust properties in SW England
Kelly Jowett: Pollinators
Santi Mañosa: Catalan birds
Denise Dostatny: Poland – arable plant conservation
Stefan Meyer: 100 Fields for the Future – strategic networks in Germany

11.15-13.00
Emily: Communicating biological information
Clive Hurford: What happens when an agri-environment scheme fails
University of East Anglia: Paul Dolman, University of E Anglia
Niamh McHugh/Lucy Capstick, GWCT: Farm clusters

13.00-14.00 Lunch

14.00-15.30 Discussion groups

15.30-16.30 Conclusions from discussion groups

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