Wildlife experts, landowners and other interested people will come together in Newport tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) to debate how wild the Isle of Wight should be.
The sold-out ‘Wilder Wight’ event is organised by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, with support from the Environment Agency and includes guest speakers Sir Charles Burrell (from the Knepp Estate in Sussex) and Derek Gow (national expert on species re-introduction). The speakers will also be joined by panellists from a range of local and national organisations.
Commenting ahead of the event, Debbie Tann, Chief Executive of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said:
“We’ve all heard the news reports of dramatic wildlife declines. But this isn’t just happening in far flung places, we are losing species right here on our doorstep. While the Island often fares better than other parts of the country, it is not immune to the impacts of industry, intensive agriculture, development and climate change.
“We urgently need to put nature into recovery. The Island could and should be a shining example of how nature can flourish and bounce back on a grand scale, given the space and support to do so.
“We hope that there will be others in the room who share this ambition and will work with us in the years ahead to create a wilder future for the Isle of Wight.”
Wilder Wight, a half-day conference, will take place at the Quay Arts in Newport. Sadly, the event has now sold out but further information about the conference can be found at https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/events/2019-03-28-wilder-wight.
