About the Future Landscapes Forum
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The Future Landscapes Forum is a group of academics and practitioners with specialist knowledge of the management, ecology, functioning and fire risk associated with heather-dominated landscapes in the UK.
Many of us have conducted key research and published a considerable body of recent peer-reviewed science and assessments pertaining to this important habitat.
Our shared views represent a collective body of current, evidence-based science and best practice about managing the UK’s heather-dominated landscapes to protect life and property, enhance ecosystem functioning and preserve a globally-important habitat.
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As a group of leading scientists and practitioners in upland management and socio-ecological impacts, we have growing concerns that the public and policy debate about managing heather moorland is neither properly informed nor evidence-based.
Indeed, there seems to be a concerted effort to derail an evidence-based approach and sound future policy by certain influential organisations and individuals who ignore or distort evidence, often present unevidenced arguments, or deploy arguments based on selective elements of scientific papers and reports that support their position.
Such arguments are often reductive, lack context and are presented wrongly as the scientific consensus.
We believe that debate and, increasingly, decisions about upland management have become polarised and overly focused on a single issue: driven grouse shooting. Our view is that this focus is wrong and dangerous.
Our concerns are not related to habitat management for grouse; indeed, we would be making this position statement if grouse, and grouse shooting, did not exist.
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We have three aims in relation to heather management:
To reduce the risk of wildfires that pose a danger to life and property.
To support and ideally increase the capture of carbon across large areas of the landscape currently dominated by heather.
To maintain and, if possible, improve the biodiversity and other ecological benefits associated with the UK’s heather-dominated landscapes.
The FLF Team
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Dr Andreas Heinemeyer is Associate Professor at the Stockholm Environment Institute based at the University of York. Originally from a small market town (Alfeld) in Germany, Lower Saxony, he moved to the York (UK) in 1998, after he acquired his Diploma (bontany, biochemistry, soil science) in Germany, to complete his PhD (2002) with Prof Alistair Fitter (CBE, FRS).
He has over 20 years of experience in the field of terrestrial carbon cycling, and over the past 15 years focused mainly on peatlands, their hydrology, carbon storage and greenhouse gas balance in relation to management and climate.
He is leading the long-term Defra-initiated Peatland-ES-UK study (so far 11 years since 2012; £2.1M) assessing plot-to-catchment scale vegetation management impacts (e.g. fire) on ecosystem services in heather-dominated upland peatlands. He is a contributor to the current UK Peatland Code's Emission Factor update (funded by Defra).
His research is highly cited with an H-index of 34 (>45 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters and report contributions). He has published on a broad range of upland topics ranging from modelling peatland historic management impacts on carbon storage to assessing habitat condition and how to define balancing priority habitats for ecosystem services.
He currently sits on the GWCT's Upland Research Steering Committee (unpaid role within the Peatland Sub-Group) and has reviewed many scientific papers and much of the latest evidence on peatland management (e.g. Defra, NE and BES reports).
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Dr Mark Andrew Ashby has always been interested in ecology and natural history. Indeed, from a young age, my parents taught me how to identify native wildflowers and trees.
However, it was not until my mid-twenties, whilst studying fishery management at Rodbaston College, that I thought about a career in ecological research. This led me to study for an Environmental Conservation BSc at Staffordshire University between 2011 and 2013.
During this time, I became interested in agroecology, especially the insect biodiversity and potential agricultural value of linear elements within the farmed landscape (e.g. hedgerows, green lanes and field margins). I then completed a PhD at Lancaster University between 2014 and 2018.
My PhD thesis investigated the local and landscape factors that promote arable field margin invertebrate populations and their services (pollination and natural pest control).
After completing my PhD, I worked at Natural England as an Upland Lead Advisor, which involved negotiating land management plans with grouse moor estates. I subsequently completed a short-term remote sensing research project investigating rush expansion within the English uplands at Lancaster University.
During these two roles, I developed an interest in upland ecology and land management, especially the use of prescribed burning on upland heathland and blanket bog. Between May 2020 and October 2021, I worked as a consultant for Natural Capital Solutions, which involved mapping and calculating the physical and economic value of natural capital and ecosystem services.
I was appointed an Ecology and Conservation Teaching Fellow at Keele in October 2021 and progressed to Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation in August 2023.
Alongside my job at Keele, I occasionally work as a seasonal ecologist and independent ecological consultant.
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Professor M. James C. Crabbe is a Supernumerary Fellow and former Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford University.
An Emeritus Professor, he was formerly Professor of Protein Biochemistry and Head of School at the University of Reading, and Executive Dean of Creative Arts, Technologies & Science and Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Bedfordshire.
He is currently Senior Advisor to the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), Special Visiting Professor at Shanxi University, Honorary Professor at both Changchun University of Science & Technology and at Wuhan Business University, China.
He has been a Senior Research Associate in the Zoology Department at Oxford University. He works with IUCN, and in 2022 won their coral Grand Prize Award. In 2021 he was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Co-Founder, Board Member and Fellow of the US National Academy of Technology.
In 2022 he was awarded the Green Development and Sustainability Award from the International Engineering and Technology Institute; their highest award in ecology.
In 2022 and 2023 he gave invited research lectures at COP17 in Geneva, and the International Conference on Genetics (ICG-17 and IGC -18).
His research has resulted in 324 research publications in refereed journals and books, plus 14 items of commercial molecular modelling software produced by Oxford University Press, and numerous other awards.
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Professor Simon Denny was raised in Essex and educated at Brentwood School. He joined the Army in 1976. After officer training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst he joined the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and served in Germany and Northern Ireland before completing an in-service degree at Exeter University.
After the Army he joined Tesco where he rose to become head of corporate management development. He was also head of training support for major corporate projects.
In 1992 he went to Nene College of Higher Education, which subsequently became the University of Northampton. There he was responsible for accredited management development until 2000. He also completed his PhD at the Open University.
In 2000 he moved into managing large-scale funded projects, particularly those tackling disadvantage through enterprise. He also led the University’s strategy in social enterprise, social innovation, and social impact.
In 2006 Simon was awarded the University’s Court Award for services to local enterprise. He became Professor of Entrepreneurship in 2007. In 2010 he was granted The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion for his work supporting disadvantaged people and ex-offenders.
His final role at the University was as Executive Dean: Research, Impact and Enterprise, giving him responsibility for devising and implementing the University’s research and enterprise strategy.
He retired from the University in late 2018 and now works as an independent researcher and consultant. He has carried out research projects for the Ministry of Defence, the Uplands Partnership and the Cadet Forces in Scotland. He has also carried out research projects for the Defence Academy of the UK.
He has published in numerous journals and co-edited the book Social Enterprise: Accountability and evaluation Around the World (Routledge 2014).
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Professor Rob Marrs has almost 50 years experience in ecological research mainly concentrating on the dynamics of British upland vegetation.
He did his PhD at the University of Stirling, postdoctoral work at the University of Liverpool on land restoration, applied ecological research at Monks Wood Experimental Station and for almost 30 years was a Professor in applied Plant Biology at the University of Liverpool.
His main interest is developing vegetation management approaches that are based on tested interventions in long-term experiments.
His long-term interests cover bracken control, sheep grazing and the impacts of prescribed burning for moorland management.
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Simon Thorp is a rural chartered surveyor, specialising in the management of the uplands.
After a career in the Royal Navy, he retrained and worked as a land agent on three estates in England. While working for a firm of land agents in Cumbria, he was engaged as consultant land agent to North West Water (now United Utilities) in Lancashire.
He took over as the Director of The Heather Trust in 2002 and remained there for the next 16 years; this period provided him with experience of issues in all parts of the UK uplands and included roles as: Director of Scotland’s Moorland Forum, Chairman of the England & Wales Wildfire Forum and Chairman of the Uplands Management Group.
He is now a self-employed uplands consultant. He continues to support The Heather Trust as a consultant and is the Coordinator of the Bracken Control Group, which operates across the UK. The BCG has cross-sector support and submitted the successful annual applications to allow the continuing use of the main bracken control herbicide (asulam marketed as Asulox), in the period 2013 - 2023. With the withdrawal of Asulox, the BCG is promoting the need for a review of bracken: its benefits, its threats and the options for management.
He believes in the importance of an integrated approach to upland management issues. Too much information is provided and viewed in isolation; this ignores the very large amount of inter-dependency that exists between the issues. Also, full account must be made of the knowledge and experience that practitioners have gained, often over several generations; a bottom-up approach can often achieve results faster.
His main interest is developing vegetation management approaches that are based on tested interventions in long-term experiments.
His long-term interests cover bracken control, sheep grazing and the impacts of prescribed burning for moorland management.