Professor Sir John Lawton - Making Space for Nature: more, bigger, better and joined up. by University of Exeter

A recording of Natural Devon's first annual lecture, held at the University of Exeter on Wednesday 13 April 2016.

Sir John is an eminent British ecologist and is currently President of the Institution of Environmental Sciences, Vice President of the RSPB, Chair of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and a Life Fellow of WWF-UK. In 1989 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2005 he was knighted for his contributions to ecological science. He has played a major part in promoting UK-wide wildlife conservation and led the ‘Lawton Review’. The review’s report, Making Space for Nature, was published in 2010. Concluding that England’s ecological network is too small and isolated, the review called for better protection of England’s wildlife and the establishment of new Ecological Restoration Zones. This was widely supported, with the establishment in 2011 of Nature Improvement Areas. The report continues to inform policy today.