Welcome to our Summer edition of Nature
News. As I write this, we are taking in a taste of the
weather we are likely to have to get used to – nice for the beach
but not so for the city. Some, as they say, like it hot, and if
that suits you I hope you make the best of it. But it’s
another reminder that we live in times of turbulance, both
enviornmental and economic. Building a readiness to
undertsand these will be a priority for us in the next few years,
in partnership with our colleagues in the country
conservation bodies. The inter-agency forum on climate
change, under the guidance of Professor Michael Usher, is producing
a new publication Climate Change and Biodioversity
Conservation: Inescapable Facts. So look out for this soon on
our website.
I am happy to report that the exercise to
recruit a new Managing Director, which I mentioned in the previous
issue, has been successful, with Marcus Yeo taking up the post in
September. Marcus has very much come ‘through the ranks’ in
JNCC, as well as spending some time out of Peterborough! Some
may think internal appointments of this kind are easy, and avoid
challenges. I am happy to report Marcus’s appointment was
from a very strong field, and shows the way the JNCC support
company is able to manage and train its staff.
In turn, we say goodbye to Deryck Steer, who
has very much stamped his own management style right through
JNCC. Deryck’s ‘can do’ attitude, combined with a bundle of
sage advice for all and the right blend of caution and risk, is
something that is admired internally and externally. Deryck
leaves us with our good wishes for life’s next challenges!
On the Committee front, I would like to
welcome aboard Peter Archdale, Deputy Chair of the Council for
Nature Conservation and the Countryside, who will be helping JNCC
to keep Northern Ireland interests in focus. He replaces Dr
Robert Brown and brings a wide and deep range of knowledge,
leavened with super levels of enthiusiasm! We also said
goodbye to Professor Peter Doyle, who served us for two full terms
of three years each, our “rock” for all things geological!
I was very pleased how well things went at
the recent conference on global biodiversity mechanisms at
The Strand Hotel in London in May. This was JNCC’s first
foray into helping to link up the UK’s intelligence and thinking
concerning the various Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
Delegates came from the full spectrum of our stakeholders, and much
lively debate and networking took place in some very amenable
surroundings. Best of all, the feedback we have had from the
delegates has been extremely positive.
One of JNCC’s latest publications is UK
Seabirds in 2008, based on the most recent report from the
Seabird Monitoring Programme. The headline statistic that,
since 2000, the number of seabirds breeding around the UK has
declined by over 600,000, or 9%, is uncomfortable reading.
However, as with other bird declines this is not identical for all
species. There are possibilities to halt or reverse these declines,
and we hope that the uptake in JNCC’s advice on this and other
subject areas will continue to grow.
Finally, I hope you will be impressed with our
latest Annual Report. It is one of our major
publications every year. Once again it is substantial, for no other
reason than we are involved in a wide ranget of issues. Dip into
it, or even read it, for it’s not the usual kind of annual
report!
Enjoy this issue, and please feel free to
contact the relevant project managers about the stories we feature
this time round.
Peter Bridgewater
Chair, JNCC