Reintroduction and Rewilding Summit - 10th April 2021

Press release from Birds of Poole Harbour and the Self-Isolating Bird Club (2nd February 2021):

On April 10th 2021 Dorset-based charity Birds of Poole Harbour, in partnership with Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin’s Self Isolating Bird Club, will host the first ever Reintroduction and Rewilding Summit, an event aimed to educate and inspire the public on some of the latest and most innovative conservation projects going on across the UK and Europe right now.

It is widely accepted that the planet is now at an ecological tipping point. Whether discussing the climate crisis or extreme declines in biodiversity, taking appropriate action to remedy these problems is still not a priority for many of those in power. In the past year especially, nature has proven its worth 100 times over, with millions of people finding comfort and solace within it.

Liv Cooper from the Birds of Poole Harbour charity said:

“At Birds of Poole Harbour, we are not content with letting the opportunity to restore and conserve our natural heritage slip through our fingers, and we’re not alone. We are a small part of a mighty network of people and organisations striving to make positive change for nature, exploring novel ways of doing so and educating the public as we go. As a charity, with our involvement in the Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project, we’re particularly inspired by the uptake of wildlife restoration projects through reintroductions and rewilding, and we know that many other people are just as engaged and enthused as we are. We therefore decided to launch a new event, bringing these projects together to showcase them to the public: The Reintroduction & Rewilding Summit“.

The Reintroduction and Rewilding Summit is a virtual event which you will be able to stream live from home on Saturday 10th April 2021. The day will be hosted by the brilliant Self-Isolating Bird Club and will be jam-packed full of content from different projects, conservationists and science communicators talking all about reintroductions and nature restoration.

The event will raise the discussion of a multitude of questions, from whether reintroductions are the best way to re-establish native species, to how beavers can shape our landscape, and whether rewilding has become an overused buzzword or is it actually our best chance to reverse catastrophic biodiversity decline?

But most importantly, it’s hoped the day will provide much-needed hope and excitement for the future of wildlife restoration and will inspire the public to discover more about these projects.

Speakers will include the likes of conservation hero Roy Dennis, Beaver expert Derek Gow, ‘Rebirding’ author Benedict Macdonald and the White Stork Project. The Birds of Poole Harbour team will also be sharing more information and announcing more guest speakers over the coming weeks, and are hoping to get as many people as possible to tune in on the day, so put the date in your diary! Plus, don’t worry if you can’t watch it on the day as all content will be available to watch on the Birds of Poole website and social media channels after the event too.

Here’s a taster video of what’s coming:

The Reintroduction and Rewilding Summit Insight Podcasts

Over the next 10 weeks leading up to the event, guest podcaster Charlie Moores will be interviewing a series of reintroduction and rewilding project leaders, discussing the details, aims and inspiration behind each scheme. With many of these topics or ideas sometimes being considered controversial, these open discussions aim to lay all cards on the table, allowing listeners to hear about the processes, practicalities and outcomes of each of the projects and how they fit into a wider context of conservation.

Podcast 1 – Poole Harbour Osprey Translocation Project

In 2017, charity Birds of Poole Harbour began a 5-year Osprey translocation project in an effort to restore a south coast breeding population having been absent for nearly 200 years. In this first podcast, Charlie discusses with some of the Poole Harbour Osprey project team the reasoning behind the reintroduction, their aspirations moving forward and the project’s place within a wider nature restoration framework.

You can listen to the first podcast and all the rest as they’re produced over the next 10 weeks on the Birds of Poole Harbour website here.

ENDS

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Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature