New Chairman's Viewpoint

True job satisfaction comes from knowing that you can make a real difference in an area of work that you have both a personal and a professional interest in. I am delighted that I have been given the responsibility of steering the JNCC through a new stage in its development. My new role will allow me to apply my earlyacademic background to the arenas of nature conservation and science - something that I am really looking forward to.

 

In the run-up to the December Committee meeting, I spent time meeting the members of the JNCC and Support Unit staff. Commitment to the work of the JNCC from both groups is impressive. An early audience with our Minister, Elliot Morley, on the Common Fisheries Policy highlighted the excellent co-operative work between JNCC and the country agencies on this sensitive issue.

 

I am fortunate to have joined the JNCC at the start of a new phase in its development. After two years of hard work, deliberation and negotiation, the Committee and the Support Unit are finally emerging from the Government's Financial Management and Policy Review (FMPR). We had a positive response from Defra and the devolved administrations to the proposed action plan. This enabled the Committee to agree at its December meeting to establish a new organisational structure. As a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) JNCC will be able, for example, to recruit and pay its own staff under consistent terms and conditions, to let contracts, and to remove much bureaucracy currently affecting the country agencies and the Support Unit. Work on this has already begun, with a target completion date of April 2004.

 

This fifth issue of Nature News highlights some of the areas of work where JNCC is currently making a unique and special contribution to nature conservation.

 

Our scientific advisors have been directly involved in global Convention proposals, including the recent addition of the basking shark to the list of scarce species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). We also successfully supported the listing of six species of cetacean and the great white shark to the Convention on the conservation of Migratory Species.  

 

The first offshore Special Area of Conservation, and the first Marine Special Protection Area have been proposed to Government, and a JNCC-led inter-agency project group has been set up to co-ordinate the completion of Natura 2000 site selection in the marine environment.

 

The Geological Conservation Review Series continues to make progress with the publication of two new titles.  

  

The Fourth Quinquennial Review recommendations have been submitted to Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, advising an increase in the level of protection for the water vole, to giving partial protection to the Roman snail, and full protection to seven marine fish and two species of Burnet moths.

 

These are just some of the areas where the work of JNCC is making a real difference to the quality of life in the UK, in Europe, and internationally. I hope you enjoy reading more about these initiatives in the following pages.

 

Katharine Bryan was until recently Chief Executive of the North of Scotland Water Authority. She previously held senior posts in the Environment Agency and its predecessor organisations. Katharine has a degree in botany and geography, and a Masters in aquatic biology.