Biomass Connect Webinar No. 7

Maximising biodiversity in your Biomass crop plantation

Biomass crops and their surrounds are brimming with life – birds, bees, butterflies and predatory arthropods all live in, or on the edge and in the surrounds of these plantations.

This webinar will provide information on emerging research into understanding how to marry up yield productivity from these crops whilst incorporating simple measures (such as buffer strips and flower-rich grass margins) that increase the edge effect, promote pollinators and maximise biodiversity net gain. There will be some information on recent Sustainable Farming Initiative (SFI) payment measures and what this means to growers of different biomass crops.

Our Speakers will be Dr. Rebecca Rowe, a terrestrial ecologist from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) and Ed Drewitt, a freelance naturalist.

Rebecca will cover topics such as the trends in biodiversity in UK farmland, how biomass crops might help and which crops are the best from a biodiversity point of view. She’ll also cover current research projects and the grants available to biomass crop growers for biodiversity enhancement.

Ed will take a look at biomass plantations from the perspective of a naturalist, investigating how birds and other animals use them, how such plantations could be designed to increase biodiversity and how biomass plantations could contribute to protecting endangered species.

Speakers:

Rebecca Rowe (UK CEH)

Rebecca is interested in challenges associated with sustainable land-use and especially how we will meet future demands for food, fibre and fuel whilst protecting the natural environment. Her research to date has focused on the impacts of land use change to bioenergy cropping on biodiversity, soil carbon and ecosystem processes.

Ed Drewitt (Freelance Naturalist)

Ed Drewitt is a freelance naturalist, showing people wildlife (especially in the Forest of Dean where he lives), training others to identify birds and their songs and completing wildlife surveys, often on farmland. He is also a learning advisor, developing learning resources and toolkits for wildlife organisations. Ed is a frequent contributor to wildlife films, both behind the scenes and on camera. He has featured on BBC’s Springwatch, The One Show, BBC Breakfast and several shows for CBBC. He has also been studying urban-dwelling peregrines for 25 years and is currently doing a part-time PhD at the University of Bristol looking at what makes them tick.