The scope of the Nature Conservation Working Party (NCWP) is to consider issues for and affecting nature conservation. Input to landscape related issues may also be appropriate. We do this by:
The working party includes members working in different fields concerned with nature conservation. Participants include individuals from statutory agencies and non-governmental organisations, environmental and planning consultants, lawyers in private and public sector practice and academics. Only UKELA members are eligible to join the working party although guests are welcome at meetings. We meet four times a year, either online or in Nottingham or London, and keep in touch via our google group. We are led by two co-convenors, currently Pip Goodwin and Eunice Pinn. We also have a Chair, currently Richard Barlow of Browne Jacobson.
If you are seeking an older consultation paper, please email us.
Posted on 22/05/2024 UKELA's response to the Scottish Government consultation on legislative proposals 'Meeting our '30 by 30' biodiversity commitment on terrestrial and freshwater sites'.
Posted on 14/05/2024 UKELA's response to the Scottish Government's consultation on facilitating marine nature restoration through legislation.
Posted on 21/03/2024 UKELA's response to the Defra consultation on policies to inform updated guidance for Marine Protected Area (MPA) assessments.
Posted on 01/03/2024 UKELA's Response to the Defra Habitats Regulations Assessments survey.
Posted on 09/02/2024 UKELA's response to the Proposed Ecocide (Prevention) (Scotland) Bill.
Posted on 19/09/2023 UKELA's response to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' consultation on protecting hedgerows, led by the Nature Conservation Working Party.
Posted on 04/08/2023 UKELA's response to the call for evidence by the Office for Environmental Protection on its assessment of improving nature delivery - halting England’s decline in species abundance by 2030 and further restoring it.
Posted on 24/04/2023 This response to the OEP’s call for evidence on Protected Sites has been prepared by UKELA’s Nature Conservation Working Party.
Posted on 16/08/2022 UKELA has submitted its response on 16 August 2022, welcoming the publication of the draft strategy. We also welcomed that ESS recognises that the environmental challenges facing Scotland are urgent and serious.
Posted on 09/05/2022 UKELA's response to the Nature Recovery Green Paper, led by the Nature Conservation Working Party (May 2022).
Posted on 28/01/2022 UKELA's response to The DEFRA and Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies Stakeholder Consultation, led by the Nature Conservation Working Party (28 January 2022).
Members of the Nature Conservation Working Party run an introductory course on wildlife law, usually in November each year and kindly hosted by Browne Jacobson. The course is for those whose jobs require them to understand the practical impact of the legislation surrounding wildlife. Any surplus from the course is used to fund, whenever possible, a bursary of up to £1,000 to support a post graduate research project addressing wildlife law. The successful candidate produces a paper for elaw and gives a presentation to the working party.
The 2023 bursary winners are Csongor Czij and Olivia Draycott with a research proposal titled “Seagrass & The Proposed Marine Net Gain – Assessing the suitability of the current environmental regulatory framework from a wildlaw perspective for upholding the new ecosystems under Marine Net Gain.” In a novel twist, the bursary project will have a practical element in that it will involve the planting of seagrass in the Morecambe Bay area, alongside an evaluation of the likely success of ecological restoration introduced under Defra’s proposed Marine Net Gain. The development of the planted seagrass will be contrasted with that of other seagrass meadows to identify the level of protection different site designations would provide for wildlife introduced under MNG schemes. Look out for updates.
The 2022 bursary winner is Mateusz Slowik
Mateusz is conducting a research project on raptor persecution in the UK. Mateusz is a former student adviser for UKELA and is currently part of the elaw editorial team. He is working as a research assistant for Professor Benoit Mayer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We look forward to reading his report once it is completed.