The Confor Woodland Show 2015 is being held on 10 / 11 September 2015 on the Longleat Estate. For full details, see the event flyer here>>
Q&A Panel: Species introduction
9.45 – 11.00 – 11 September 2015 in the Confor marquee
Chair: Dougal Driver
Introduction: Ian Gambles, Forestry Commission England
Panel: Jonathan Spencer (Forestry Commission); Emma Sheehy (Aberdeen University); Vincent Wildife Trust; Derek Gow; and, BASC.
Join Confor for a bacon butty and put your questions to the panel. The subject of species re-introduction is one that arouses polarised opinions. The moral argument is put forward that we exterminated these species so we should bring them back. Others note that they were exterminated for a reason, and that the factors that made them extinct in the first place e.g. habitat loss and hunting, need to have been dealt with before a re-introduction can take place. There is a legal side to it involving UN conservation body the IUCN, which requires member states to consider re-introducing species that have become extinct for, say, conservation management. This debate will focus on beavers for watercourse management and Pine martens for grey squirrel control.
