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University of Exeter project gets £10m for biodiversity research

BBC Looe, CornwallBBC
Project lead, Prof Kevin Gaston, said the UK was "one of the world's most nature-depleted countries"

A project to investigate and tackle biodiversity loss has received £10m.

Researchers at the University of Exeter and the National Trust will be working together to address the environment and climate crisis.

The ReNew project will work with landowners, businesses and communities to restore woodlands, wetlands and farmland across the UK.

Project lead, Prof Kevin Gaston, said the investment "will give nature in the UK a critical boost".

He said the UK was "one of the world's most nature-depleted countries" and it was "a crucial time to act".

"We will bring together wide-ranging research and partnership expertise with environmental and community intelligence to create the sustainable solutions required," said Prof Gaston, the founding director of the Environment and Sustainability Institute in Cornwall.

"The UK government has committed to reversing UK biodiversity decline by 2030 through a legally binding target on species abundance and the ReNew project will play a major part in reaching that goal."

Exeter University
The University of Exeter is collaborating with the National Trust on the ReNew project

The project will focus on:

  • How community support for biodiversity renewal can be harnessed
  • How people who are disengaged, disadvantaged, or disconnected from nature can benefit from inclusion in solutions development
  • How renewal activities can be designed and delivered by diverse sets of land managers and interest groups
  • How biodiversity renewal can most effectively be embedded into finance and business activities

The funding has been provided by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Project co-lead, Prof Rosie Hails, said it was a "tremendous opportunity to trial solutions to renew biodiversity".

"The next five to 10 years are critical for making the step change needed to tackle the nature crisis and to alter the current trajectory of biodiversity loss," said the director of science and nature at the National Trust.

Executive chair of the NERC, Prof Sir Duncan Wingham said the £10m investment would enable sciences from a variety of disciplines to come together to "address major environmental challenges facing the UK and support the transition to a net zero and nature positive future".

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