Conservation Optimism Summit

We will be hosting an inspirational and interactive panel session, that will showcase some of the most positive and optimistic conservation projects found within Great Britain today. All our speakers are champions within the UK’s rewilding sector and we hope to share their successes to a wide audience to show how an innovative and visionary approach can transform landscapes and ecosystems.

We will pose the question: ‘Is rewilding more than just restoring nature?’ to a panel that reflects the many faces of the rewilding movement within the UK. The aim of the discussion will be to demonstrate that the term rewilding can be applied to multiple contexts and bring a whole host of benefits which can vary because of different approaches taken.

We have confirmed participation from three renowned speakers that are eminent conservation practitioners within the rewilding sector, who each reflect the ‘many faces of rewilding’ and the different landscapes that it operates within. Our speakers are each pioneering a conservation approach to benefit the landscape in which they are found; from remote sparsely populated environments to agricultural landscapes and our urban city sprawls.

Our speakers are:
Alan Watson – Featherstone:
Alan is the founder of the award-winning charity Trees for Life. Arguably the most successful rewilding charity within the UK. Over the last 28 years the team have worked towards restoring the Caledonian Forest in the Scottish Highlands. To date they have planted over a million trees and inspired thousands of volunteers. Alan himself is regarded as true conservation champion and has been awarded the ’Guardian Medal of Honour’ in 2015 and the RSPB’s ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’. Though over retirement age, Alan is showing no signs of slowing down.

Charles Burrell
Chair of the organisation Rewilding Britain, Charlie was inspired by Frans Vera’s rewilding work in Holland. Following a visit to Oostvardesplassen he has worked to transform his underperforming 1,400-hectare agricultural estate into a ‘rewilded’ landscape, introducing analogue species representing the mammal fauna of the late Pleistocene. This has resulted in a profitable ecotourism company and enhanced the ecology of the site, which is now witnessing natural re-colonisation of species, some of which include the purple emperor butterflies and nightingales.

Daniel Raven-Elison
Founder of the Greater London National Park City Initiative which aims to celebrate the urban biodiversity that these areas can support. London is 47% greenspace and has over 8 million trees. This initiative hopes to revolutionise the ways in which cities are perceived. Reconnecting communities with nature and encouraging green and sustainable development to safeguard London’s future. This has gained significant public and political support – with Mayor Sadiq Khan pledging that London will achieve this goal.

We hope that you will join us in what is set to be an exciting panel discussion at the Zoological Institute of London. 
Best wishes,
Elliot and Lucas