ECOS 46 (2) – UCL Nature & Conservation Society Conference 2025 – Challenging perspectives on contexts for conservation

Conference report article

JANET MACKINNON

The British Association of Nature Conservationists and ECOS welcomed another opportunity to support the annual UCL Nature & Conservation Society Conference and very much look forward to future collaborations. Although the event adopted the title of a 2020 book in part based on the concept of Convivial Conservation, a common theme of both the speaker presentations and participant discussion was the need to bring challenging perspectives to conservation in highly diverse contexts. Thus, subjects ranged from the rewilding work of Citizen Zoo in London, to UCL research projects in Brazil and Kyrgyzstan, as well the system transformation of ecological economics. The increasingly diverse contexts for nature conservation were also reflected in the backgrounds and interests of those involved in organising this year’s conference with strong representation from city states and megacities including Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing. However, while urban conservation has emerged as something of a modern success story, the environment for conservation in many of the world’s rural and more remote areas remains challenging, with complex legacies of colonialism, including the so-called post-Soviet space, widely cited. The vital role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in global regions of high biodiversity value was strongly emphasised, as was the need for culturally appropriate forms of sustainable development.

Introductions

UCL Nature and Conservation Society President Ilina Shah opened the event and BANC Trustee Simon Leadbeater provided a brief introduction to the charity which has its roots in a group of students from the UCL Masters in Conservation. Founded in 1979, the British Association of Nature Conservationists has since offered a platform to a wide range of organisations and individuals who embrace the political dimensions of conservation. Simon described the central role of BANC’s now online journal ECOS and its contribution to nature conservation policy and practice, including his own work and publications. He encouraged article submissions from participants in the present conference. Ilina and colleague Gian Stefano Fantini then described UCL’s Nature and Conservation Society, provided some background to the main conference themes and set out the programme. Bram Büscher and Robert Fletcher’s book, The Conservation Revolution – Radical Ideas For Saving Nature Beyond the Anthropocene, was cited as providing a helpful framework for discussing various conservation streams: convivial (including Indigenous-led); mainstream; new; and neo-protectionist. So-called traditional and mainstream conservation are generally viewed in a capitalist worldview, whereas convivial models offer alternative perspectives. Speakers whose practical and academic work reflects different streams were then introduced:

· Elliott Newton – Rewilding London: Innovative approaches to urban rewilding.

· Thais Morcatty – Co-management, participatory governance and sustainability: Case study from the Amazon.

· Robert Costanza – Ecosystem services and conservation.

· Joshua Elves-Powell – Beyond firearms and fatigues: Supporting wildlife rangers and protected areas in global conservation.

Eliott Newton – Convivial conservation stream

Citizen Zoo’s co-founder and recently appointed Director of Rewilding Elliott Newton gave an upbeat and motivational talk on urban conservation with a focus on London. He was also instrumental in organising two ground-breaking conferences on rewilding in 2019 and 2025. Elliot was previously employed as a conservation officer in local government. His talk focused on ‘integrating wildlife principles into urban landscapes’ and ‘redefining the potential of cities to support nature, while unlocking benefits for wellbeing and climate resilience.’ By way of context, Elliott drew on nature conservation successes from Vancouver, Mumbai, Milan, Singapore and Curridabat (Costa Rica). He went on to briefly describe London’s urban evolution, including the city’s wetland origins, and the gradual emergence of efforts to conserve the capital’s natural history during the 19th century, with London declared the world’s first National Park City in 2019. Elliot highlighted the role of the London Rewilding Task Force, before moving on to discuss the work of Citizen Zoo. This includes a number of species re-introduction projects for water voles, beavers, white storks and glow worms with a strong emphasis on community engagement, plus creative and practical use of digital technologies. Another flagship project is ‘Wild Tolworth’ in Kingston south west London, involving planned habitat restoration with natural grazing. Throughout Elliott’s talk, the power of rewilding to inspire and mobilise people, including key decision-makers, was very clear.

Thais Morcatty – Indigenous-led conservation

Dr Morcatty is a UCL researcher and lecturer in Environmental Futures with a background in ‘bioeconomy, governance, wildlife uses by Amazonian communities, adaptation to climate change and conservation in protected areas’. Her presentation used a case study from the Amazon to explore issues of ‘Co-Management, Participatory Governance and Sustainability.’ She defined ‘People-Centred Conservation’ as an “approach to biodiversity conservation that actively involves local communities…in the design, implementation and management of conversation efforts”. The vital role of Indigenous Peoples across 90 countries was highlighted, particularly with reference to the survival of Intact Forests, 40% of which are contained within areas of Indigenous tenure rights. Local (or Traditional) Ecological Knowledge is a ‘socio-ecological system’ that brings together knowledge, practice and ethics (Withanage & Gunathilaka, 2023) and can provide a foundation for wildlife management. Co-management frameworks in the Brazilian Amazon enable shared governance with state authorities delivering both community empowerment and real conservation outcomes (eg. pirarucu fisheries management). Citing the Convention on Biological Diversity, Thais emphasised that Indigenous knowledge is fully recognised in global conservation policy. However, her talk concluded with the words of international legal expert Siegfried Wiessner: “It is up to each Indigenous community, and its members, to decide whether they wish to continue their inherited ways of life, modify, or abandon them. Governments should not create living museums of peoples.”

Robert Costanza – New conservation stream

Robert Costanza holds a number of international academic positions, including Professor of Ecological Economics at UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity and was winner of the 2024 Blue Planet Prize. He is also Editor in Chief of The Anthropocene Review. His talk considered relationships between ecosystem services and conservation, including a range of possible valuation techniques and some common misconceptions around these. Robert highlighted the current work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Ecosystem Services Partnership. He discussed the provenance of ecological economics, including a seminal 1997 article in the journal Nature which for the first time sought to quantify the value of Earth’s biosphere. The global value of coastal wetlands for storm protection was then described together with the estimated loss of ecosystem services between 1997 to 2011 due to land use change ($4.3-20.2 trillion/year). Several valuation scenarios covering the period 2011-2050 for global ecosystem services were then put forward, including a ‘Great Transition’. Robert gave the example of protected areas which now cover 15.4% or the planet’s terrestrial regions and 3.4% of its oceans as evidence of progress towards the 2030 Nature Positive global target. The presentation concluded with mention of his recent publications, including Addicted to Growth: Societal Therapy for a Sustainable Wellbeing Future.

Joshua Elves-Powell – Mainstream conservation

Dr Elves-Powell is a UCL researcher and lecturer in Biodiversity Conservation and Ecology. His research is mainly concerned with the ecology of rare and threatened species, particularly terrestrial mammal populations. Using the example of wildlife rangers and protected areas in global conservation, Joshua shared his experience of a study involving Rangers Without Borders in Eurasia, undertaken in collaboration with various other partner organisations, including WWF. The research project had 3 main themes: ranger livelihoods; poaching threats; anti-poaching capability; transboundary co-operation and capacity building. Its overall aim was to better understand the work and needs of rangers in understudied environments. The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan was used to illustrate the particular challenges of rangers, including arduous conditions, lack of equipment and training, poor salary and widespread corruption. Relationships between rangers and their local communities were found to be complicated, with both widely involved in subsistence livestock farming. A key finding of Joshua’s research was the discrepancy between perceived threats of poaching linked to charismatic animals like snow leopards and actual confiscations of protected species, mainly plants. Important lessons from the project included: better understanding the needs of rangers; identifying differences between ranger perceptions and real threats to wildlife; understanding the geopolitical context of rangers’ work; and exploring partnerships for capacity building with the global ranger body.

Panel discussion

Ilina Shah gave the panel a list of questions and invited additional inputs from the audience. First up came management of the commons with answers referencing economists such as Elinor Ostrom and Kate Raworth. Although there was an implicit critique of capitalism’s traditional failure to value the commons, Joshua cited a cautionary note on alternatives based upon his experience of working in North Korea. A second question concerned relationships between Local Ecological Knowledge, science and long-term global sustainability to which Thais responded that Indigenous Peoples tend to be ‘open-minded’ about balancing conservation of nature and culture with appropriate forms of development. There was then a discussion about situations where wildlife may pose a perceived or real threat to livelihoods, including beaver re-introductions in rural areas of Britain, and Elliott stressed the importance of education. The panel was asked what made them hopeful about the future and Robert suggested that better understanding of unsustainable behaviours at the individual and societal level enabled more effective interventions. A further question drew attention to tackling conflicts between ‘systems and worldviews’ and was followed by one citing cultural objections to nature conservation, as with some forms of cetacean hunting (eg Faroe Islands). Education based on sound information was again recommended as essential. The important role of anthropology in conservation was highlighted using the example of bottom up versus top-down approaches (the subject of last year’s conference). This discussion continued as Ilina encouraged people to join the post-conference reception.

Reflections and take-home points

As in 2024 conversations continued over drinks; and while ‘Convivial Conservation’ emerged from the evening as relevant to many different contexts, so did the need to fully integrate nature-based considerations into broader spatial development programmes at the local, regional and national levels. Case studies demonstrating good policy and practice were felt to be particularly useful. However, some participants in the conference also felt the challenges for conservation in peripheral rural areas, of Europe for instance, had not been adequately reflected in the discourse. In Bulgaria, for example, rural depopulation and deprivation – in part an enduring legacy of the Soviet Union’s collapse – have given rise to complex relationships between people and nature. Nevertheless, positive lessons are available from other European countries such as Italy, on integrating conservation and rural development. From the more remote parts of Europe, inevitably conversations returned to London’s environment and relationships between the capital’s wildlife, as well as its human inhabitants. Competition between the protection of great crested newts and molluscs in Richmond Park was mentioned. Notwithstanding inevitable conflicts, the transformation of former industrial wastelands into thriving wildlife habitats across the Greater London region and Thames Estuary is real evidence of a conservation revolution taking place across the world’s great cities.

Like Ben Leo Hollis and student colleagues with the 2024 conference, this year’s UCL Nature & Conservation President Ilina Shah and committee members did a superb job in putting together a fascinating programme and group of speakers. A smaller panel also enabled more discussion which pointed to the increasingly trans-disciplinary nature of conservation work and complex range of skills needed from the next generation of researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Thus whilst Ben undertook the MSci Biodiversity and Conservation (an evolution of the course whose participants set up BANC in the late 1970s), Ilina is currently studying a combined Arts and Sciences degree at UCL. She is especially interested in conservation finance and brought WWF’s Senior Partnership’s Manager Swati Mandloi to last year’s conference, with both sharing a background in Singapore. By way of ECOS connection, an early supporter was one of WWF’s founders, the late Max Nicholson, who combined an international government and business career with a lifelong involvement in the 20th century nature conservation movement. Nicholson understood conservation as a continually evolving set of disciplines, closely linked – whatever one’s worldview – with socio-economic contexts, now including the opportunities and threats of the 21st century technological revolution.