National Tree Week – Webinar, 1 Dec 2022
During National Tree Week, SxNP and South Downs National Park Authority hosted a webinar for local authorities and land managers to provide updates on toolkits and support available to those interested in woodland creation.
The event was Chaired by South Downs National Park Authority with speakers from The Tree Council, Natural England, Woodland Trust, High Weald AONB Unit, West Sussex County Council, Forestry Commission and Sussex Nature Partnership/ SDNPA, who launched the Woodland Opportunity Mapping Toolkit.
Slide packs from the presenters can be viewed below:
Olivia Morton, Natural England: NE Tree Strategy, online mapping resources and Regional Advisor
Jess Allan, The Tree Council: Local Authorities, Trees and Woodland Strategy Toolkit for local authorities
Don Baker, West Sussex County Council: Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Biodiversity Net Gain: update and opportunities for woodland creation
Julie Middleton (SxNP) and Sonia Lorenzo Martin (SDNPA): Woodland Opportunity Mapping Toolkit for Sussex and South Downs National Park
Gerry Sherwin, High Weald AONB Unit: High Weald Perspective on locating sites for woodland creation
Bridget Fox, Woodland Trust: The work of the Woodland Trust in Sussex
Biodiversity Net Gain (March 2021)
SxNP hosted a webinar in March 2021 on Biodiversity Net Gain. The purpose of this half day event was to introduce the concept of BNG and to explore opportunities and challenges it will present in practice. The event was presented in two sessions. The presentations from the key speakers in each sessions can be viewed below:
Session 1: Securing Biodiversity Net Gain
Henri Brocklebank, Sussex Wildlife Trust: Introduction and Programme
Jess Price, Sussex Wildlife Trust: Introduction to BNG and how it fits into the current planning system
Steve Panks, Senior Advisor, Natural England: Calculating Biodiversity Net Gain using the Biodiversity Metric 2.0 and 3.0
Sophus zu Ermgassen, Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology: Exploring the ecological outcomes of BNG using real data
Kate Cole, East Sussex County Council: Readiness of Local Authorities to deliver BNG
Session 2: Delivering Biodiversity Net Gain
Julie Middleton, Sussex Nature Partnership: Moving from strategic maps of nature recovery networks to delivery of BNG at the district level
Lee Evans, Organic Roofs Ltd: Using Green Roofs to deliver BNG (no slides)
Claire Kerr and Lucy Howard, South Downs National Parks Authority: Securing long term management of BNG through Conservation Covenants
Nature and Carbon (II) – Webinar, January 2021
This half-day webinar built on the initial work done for the 2020 event below and brought together a range of speakers to discuss what was happening in practice in the area of carbon sequestration and nature. Contributors included SxNP, Sussex Wildlife Trust, South Downs National Park Authority, Adur & Worthing Councils, Portsmouth Water, High Weald AONB Unit and ADEPT (Association fo Directors of Environment, Planning, Economy & Transport).
Slides packs from the presenters can be viewed below:
Julie Middleton, SxNP: Nature-based approaches: the role of habitats in carbon sequestration and storage
Paul Brewer, Adur & Worthing Councils: Carbon Sequestration: the challenge for local authorities
Jenna Dewhurst, Portsmouth Water: Nature-based solutions to carbon storage and sequestration
Henri Brocklebank, Sussex Wildlife Trust: Challenges and opportunities for conservation organisations in developing investable projects
Jason Lavender, High Weald AONB Unit: Carbon Farming: the potential of regenerative agriculture to contribute to climate change mitigation (no slide pack)
Chris Fairbrother, South Downs National Park Authority: Thinking spatially and strategically about nature-based solutions: constraints and opportunities
Sue Halliwell, ADEPT: Empowering Local Government to be Leaders
Nature and Carbon (I) – March 2020
A SxNP Carbon event was planned for 30th March 2020, to be held at Wakehurst Place. The aim of the event was to help raise the understanding of SxNP members and key partner organisations on the role of natural habitats in the storage and sequestration of carbon. Unfortunately, the in-person event was cancelled at the last minute due to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, all those who had planned to speak provided slides with commentary for information. These can be viewed via Youtube links below:
Julie Middleton, SxLNP & Dr Tony Whitbread, Sussex Wildlife Trust: The role of trees, woodland and other terrestrial habitats in carbon storage (slides only)
Dr Francesca Baylis, Kent County Council: The significance of soil in carbon storage
Dr Ian Hendy, Blue Marine Foundation: Marine vegetated ecosystems and their role in carbon storage
Emma Bennett, Southern Water: Carbon management in a water utility
Crispin Scott, National Trust: National strategic approach to tree planting
Julie Middleton, SxLNP: Tree-planting and ‘natural carbon solutions’: strategic thinking and emerging principles across the UK