The FMP have been invited to join a Policy Lab on Irreplaceable Habitats - which is run by the British Ecological Society. The Lab is hoping to convene the academic community around impactful and time-sensitive policy questions and follows on from the work the team contributed towards on a Discussion Paper on Ancient Grasslands for the BES. This aimed to develop a practical definition of the term ‘ancient grasslands’ to help identify and protect grasslands of high nature conservation value more effectively.
The Policy Lab on Irreplaceable Habitats is intended to provide a tool for the identification of ancient grassland sites and support advocacy for stronger legal protection and better support for conserving and managing these grasslands throughout England, Scotland, and Wales. The creation of such a definition sits within the context of National Policy and Planning Frameworks and recent legislation relating to ‘Irreplaceable Habitats’.
We are working with a team including BES, RSPB, University of Edinburgh, Lancaster University, Edinburgh Napier University’s Centre for Conservation & Restoration Science as well as scientists from Nigeria, China, USA, Australia and Canada. The Policy Lab has two aims:
- To publish a Policy Direction article for the Journal of Applied Ecology. The audience for this are ecologists from across the world (2.2 million downloads on the journal so far this year). The article will have a focus on informing and improving policy. It will look to examine what features should be considered when defining irreplaceable habitat, including relevant spatial and temporal scales. It will suggest a possible framework for determining what habitats are irreplaceable and apply it to example habitats, to help guide stakeholders on how the framework functions in practice.
- To publish a Policy Brief with an audience of Policy makers such as civil servants, parliamentarians, local authorities etc. The Policy Brief will bring together ecological evidence on a key issue in a manner appropriate for the target audience/impact objective.
