The UK Biodiversity Research
Advisory Group
The UK’s National Biodiversity
Research Platform
UK BRAG exists to:
- Identify, promote and facilitate
biodiversity research to support UK and individual country
biodiversity action plan commitments1;
- Coordinate effective and efficient UK
engagement with European biodiversity research issues, fulfilling
the role of a national biodiversity research platform;
- Contribute to effective biodiversity
research networking in the UK, leading to increased
interdisciplinary capacity;
- Support knowledge transfer activities in relation to
biodiversity research.
Special session at the BES annual meeting, 4th September 2008,
London.
Following the success of UK BRAG's side event at the 2007 Annual
Meeting of the British Ecological Society, the Group once
again joined forces with the BES to organise a special session on
Ecosystem Services at the 2008 Annual Meeting at Imperial
College, London. The
programme can be downloaded, along with a report
of the special session. The speaker's slides can also be
viewed by going to the links below.
Dr Peter
Costigan (1.3 Mb)
Prof. Ed Maltby (1.9 Mb)
Prof. Roy
Haines-Young & Dr Marion Potschin (please note this is
a very large file of 9.3 Mb)
Dr Ruth
Swetnam (please note the large file size - 4.05 Mb)
Prof.Alastair
Fitter (2.15 Mb)
Prof. Andrew
Watkinson (3.1 Mb)
Dr. Dan
Osborn (0.3 Mb)
Dr. Peter Carey (3.0
Mb)
UK BRAG 3 Year Report
A summary of the important knowledge gaps, identified by
the UK Biodiversity Advisory Group 2003-2006, 'Research Needs for UK
Biodiversity', has now been published. Hard copies are
available from the UK BRAG Secretariat (
)
UK BRAG Leaflet
The UK BRAG Secretariat have produced a leaftet to summarise the
role, activities and work of UK BRAG; the leaflet can be downloaded
here. Requests for hard copies
should be made by email to
Terms of Reference
A review of UK BRAG took place in 2006, leading to a
refocusing of the Group’s aims and objectives. You can download the
revised
Terms of Reference.
Latest News
The Collaboration for Environmental Evidence is a partnership between scientists and managers working towards a sustainable global environment and the conservation of biodiversity.
The Natural Environment Research Council (UK) invites proposals for activities to strengthen research capacity to tackle the complex problems associated with the sustainable management of ecosystems for poverty reduction.
UK BRAG proposes to work in partnership with the Biodiversity Reporting & Information Group (BRIG), to form an expert group which will make recommendations on how to implement research actions for UK BAP species and habitats.
The UK Network of Environmental Economists (UKNEE) is pleased to announce that envecon 2008: Applied Environmental Economics Conference will take place on Friday 14th March 2008, at The Royal Society in London
Key External Links
BiodivERsA
Biodiversa is an ERA-net (European Research Area) project
where 19 European research funding agencies seek best practice as a
basis for cooperation in order to strengthen European
research.
BioStrat is a Specific Support Action (SSA) funded by the EU
Sixth Framwework Programme starting on the 1st of November 2006 and
coordinated by the Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences. The project invoves 34 partners from 32
countries and aims to further develop the EU Biodiversity Research
Strategy making wise use of the existing structures.
The Environmental Research Funders' Forum brings together the
UK's major public sector sponsors of environmental science, aiming
to make best possible use of funding. ERFF concentrates on
activities that clearly add value; could not be done by a single
meber acting alone; and have the potential to advcane environmental
research in the UK and internationally.
The European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy is a
forum for scientists and policy-makers to ensure that research
contributes to halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Its
participants, fomr across Europe, meet to identify and promote
strategically important biodiversity research that will contribute
to policies and management to reduce biodiversity loss, and help to
conserve, protect, restore and make use of the components of
biodiversity sustainable.
UK Biodiversity Action Plan
The UK Biodiversity Action Plan is the UK Government's
response to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) signed in
1992. It describes the UK's biological resources and commits
a detailed plan for the protection of these resources.
The UK Global Environmental Change Committee is an
Inter-Agency Committee which provides a forum to coordinate UK
involvement in the science and technology of climate change and
other global environmental change, both nationally and
internationally. It reviews the effectiveness of the national
capacity, capability and performance in these areas and makes
recommendations, including identification of lead
agencies. A sub-group of the UK GECC specifically looks
at
Biodiversity.
1 UK BRAG will not
address research needs associated with individual HAPs and SAPs,
instead focusing on cross-cutting, generic issues.