Conference: Newcastle, 17 March - Identifying the opportunities for and threats to the British Uplands

The full title of the conference is: "Identifying the opportunities for and threats to the British Uplands: what are the policy and research priorities?".  More information

Key aims are to:

1. Facilitate an evidence-based discussion on the future of the British uplands in what can be a contentious policy and management topic;
2. Establish the viewpoints of important stakeholders regarding the future of the uplands post-Brexit;
3. Identify the top policy and research questions  by collecting data through facilitated discussion and to determine where there is consensus; and
4. Use the workshop data to guide future BES policy work in the British uplands (potentially a first publication immediately post-workshop), and to consider a future event.

Lead organisers: 

Darren Evans (Newcastle University), Des Thompson (Scottish Natural Heritage), Jamie Newbold (Aberystwyth University), Davy McCracken (Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

Scottish Land & Estates - Spring Conference - 25 May 2016

Scottish Land & Estates has announced details of their Spring Conference, which will be held in The Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh on 25 May 2016.

This conference offers delegates a unique opportunity to engage with Scottish landowners, representatives of land based business, rural professionals, politicians, policy decision makers and academics. The conference is designed to stimulate debate, introduce new ideas and approaches, explore challenges and identify potential solutions.

For more details about the conference and how to apply for a place, see the SL&E website.

Molinia Conference, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire: 14-16 September 2015

Molinia on Marsden Moor

Although Huddersfield may be a distance from Scotland, this conference will be applicable to everyone who wants to know more about Molinia across the UK.  I will be attending in my Heather Trust capacity, but I circulate details in case some Forum members would also like to attend, or at least be aware of it.

The full title of this conference is: "Molinia caerulea on upland peat in the UK: history, dependencies and the role of intervention in achieving conservation goals".

From the flyer for the conference:

"Peat covers much of the flat or gently sloping uplands of the UK, forming blanket mire that can host a number of vegetation types. The type favoured by conservationists, and considered to be associated with the greatest rate of peat formation, involves cotton-grass (Eriophorum) species, ericaceous shrubs and Sphagnum mosses. In practice, this is lacking over large areas of upland where it might be expected, its place being taken by very dominant Purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea. Conservation bodies expend much effort in trying to replace Molinia with the more desirable species and conservation objectives are set with this in mind. This conference examines the place of Molinia caerulea in UK plant communities, factors affecting its growth and experiments looking at ways of adding greater diversity where appropriate. The aim is to gain a clearer understanding, through discussion, of what types of conservation objective should be applied and how to achieve them.

The conference will take place in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, 14-16 September 2015 and will contain two days of presentations and discussion followed by a field trip on Day 3 to look at diversification experiments set up in dominant Molinia on the Marsden Moor Estate. We are able to keep the conference fee low due to generous support from Natural England and the International Peat Society."

I can vouch for Marsden Moor being a good venue for the field visit.  The Heather Trust ran a demonstration project for Defra at Marsden for three years from 2003, and I remember walking over the part of the moor shown in the photograph.  At the time, it had a complete coverage of molinia tussocks and it was hard walking.  I suspect it has not changed a lot since.

For more detail about the conference see the Marsden Moor Estate website.

The John Muir Conference: 12-13 May 2014

This conference marks the centenary of John Muir's death.  The conference is about the challenges and opportunities of managing protected areas in the 21st century - the excellent range of speakers are expected to really examine and challenge current practices! 

Part of the Conference programme includes study visits to see and hear first-hand how the challenges of balancing the protection of the natural heritage with economic development and facilitating high visitor numbers are being tackled. There is something for everyone as the tours cover a range of projects from landscape-scale habitat restoration, to renewable energy generation, to innovative visitor management.

The Conference will be of particular interest to land, conservation and visitor management professionals operating in protected or sensitive landscapes across the UK. 

Those watching budgets or who are hooked into the 'Tesco shopping' culture might want to note the current‘Buy 2 Get 1 Free’ offer!

More details

The John Muir Conference 2014 ~ 12-13 May 2014

This conference will mark the centenary of John Muir's Death.  Click on the banner for more information and details of how to register.

"Research in the Flow Country" conference: 23-25 October

The Environmental Research Institute is hosting a peatlands conference in Thurso 23-25 October - "Research in the Flow Country: Linking Science to Society".  More details are available on the website. 

I am disappointed that I cannot attend but in addition to learning about developments in peatland research, the conference offers an opportunity to visit the Flow Country.