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Alastair James Driver is an English ecologist, conservationist and rewilding specialist. He is an Honorary Professor of Applied Environmental Management at the University of Exeter. He was the National Conservation Manager for the Environment Agency (2002 - 2016) and was appointed as Director of Rewilding Britain in 2017. He is the creator and voluntary warden of Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve in Sonning, Berks, which carries his name.
Alastair Driver was born in Gloucester, England and educated at Randwick C of E Primary School and Marling School in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He studied ccology at Lancaster University and was awarded a BSc Hons degree in 1978. Driver was appointed as an Honorary Professor in Applied Environmental Management by the University of Exeter in 2016.[ citation needed ]
Driver was appointed as the first conservation officer for the Thames Water Authority in 1984 and oversaw the development of river and wetland conservation policies, procedures and projects in the Thames catchment through the formation of the National Rivers Authority in 1989 and the Environment Agency in 1996. During this period he initiated many partnership projects with voluntary organisations in the River Thames catchment, including otter habitat projects and water vole projects with county Wildlife Trusts, aimed at the conservation and recovery of these threatened species. During this period he also oversaw the environmental aspects of many hundreds of river engineering schemes including the Jubilee River in Berkshire.[ citation needed ]
In 2002 Driver was appointed as National Conservation Manager for the Environment Agency, until taking early retirement from public service in 2016. He founded or co-founded initiatives, including the River Restoration Project, [1] the River Restoration Centre [2] the European Riverprize, [3] the UK Riverprize, [4] SuDS for Schools [5] and Catchments in Trust. In 1997 Driver set up the UK Water Vole Conservation Group which he chaired until September 2016. This group oversaw the delivery of the Biodiversity Action Plan for this declining species, including securing full legal protection for water voles in 2008. [6] In recent years,[ when? ] Driver has been a strong advocate of natural flood management and especially the acquisition of evidence on the multiple benefits of working with natural processes when managing river catchments. [7] His ongoing compilation of this evidence, known as "Killer Facts", is published online by the Natural Environment Research Council. [8]
Driver was appointed as Director of Rewilding Britain in January 2017. In 2020 he was described by Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith as being "a fantastic influence on the national debate around rewilding who could take the credit for rewilding becoming more mainstream".[ citation needed ]
Alastair Driver has been married to Belinda since 1980 and they have three sons, Daniel, Liam and Kieran. He has lived in Sonning, Berkshire since 1987.[ citation needed ]
This is an index of conservation topics. It is an alphabetical index of articles relating to conservation biology and conservation of the natural environment.
Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.
New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for a large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of New York City. During the 20th century, much of the Meadowlands area was urbanized, and it became known for being the site of large landfills and decades of environmental abuse. A variety of projects began in the late 20th century to restore and conserve the remaining ecological resources in the Meadowlands.
Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to an area where it has been extirpated, or to augment an existing population. Species that may be eligible for reintroduction are typically threatened or endangered in the wild. However, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control; for example, wolves being reintroduced to a wild area to curb an overpopulation of deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, some prefer the term "reestablishment".
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment in England.
The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 46 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage. The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is managed by a board of trustees elected from its membership who provide overall direction for the development of the trust and there are advisory committees. The work of the trust is carried out through staff and volunteers.
Bulimba Creek, originally known as Doboy Creek or Doughboy Creek, is a perennial stream that is a tributary of the Brisbane River, located in suburban Brisbane in the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
Benjamin James Goldsmith is an English financier and environmentalist. The son of financier James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel Goldsmith he is founder and CEO of London-listed investment firm Menhaden, which focuses on the theme of energy and resource efficiency.
New Zealand has several notable wetlands but 90% of wetland areas have been lost following European settlement.
Floodplain restoration is the process of fully or partially restoring a river's floodplain to its original conditions before having been affected by the construction of levees (dikes) and the draining of wetlands and marshes.
Wetland conservation is aimed at protecting and preserving areas of land including marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens that are covered by water seasonally or permanently due to a variety of threats from both natural and anthropogenic hazards. Some examples of these hazards include habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species. Wetland vary widely in their salinity levels, climate zones, and surrounding geography and play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem services, and support human communities. Wetlands cover at least six percent of the Earth and have become a focal issue for conservation due to the ecosystem services they provide. More than three billion people, around half the world's population, obtain their basic water needs from inland freshwater wetlands. They provide essential habitats for fish and various wildlife species, playing a vital role in purifying polluted waters and mitigating the damaging effects of floods and storms. Furthermore, they offer a diverse range of recreational activities, including fishing, hunting, photography, and wildlife observation.
Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also distinct from other forms of restoration in that, while it places emphasis on recovering geographically specific sets of ecological interactions and functions that would have maintained ecosystems prior to human influence, rewilding is open to novel or emerging ecosystems which encompass new species and new interactions.
The Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) is the South India centre of WII. It is a national centre for information, education and research in ornithology and natural history in India.
Project Twin Streams is an umbrella name for a number of initiatives centred on two streams in the West Auckland, New Zealand. It consists of a number of environmental and community initiatives and infrastructure. This includes wetland restoration, largely carried out through volunteer work, partly to mitigate the effects of floodwaters from the Waitākere Ranges. The intent is also to protect/reclaim the 100-year flood plain from encroaching buildings and infrastructure. The project was achieved successfully, including 156 full and partial property purchases, despite a political decision not to use the legally available option of compulsory property purchases. The project focuses on the tributaries of Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek and the Huruhuru Creek, including the Momutu Stream, Ōpanuku Stream, Oratia Stream and the Waikumete Stream.
Rewilding Europe is a non-profit organization based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, dedicated to creating rewilded landscapes throughout Europe. The group's efforts have contributed to increasing the stock of previously endangered species such as the European bison and the Iberian lynx.
Ravindra Kumar Sinha is a Padma Shri awarded Indian biologist and environmentalist. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University from 2019-2023 and also served in Nalanda Open University. Previously he was the Head of the Department of Zoology at Patna University, and is a pioneer researcher and wildlife conservationist, famous for his efforts for the conservation of Gangetic Dolphins, he is popularly known as the "Dolphin Man of India".
Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding is a 2013 book by the British activist George Monbiot. In it, Monbiot discusses rewilding, particularly in the United Kingdom. It was first published by Allen Lane, a hardback imprint of the Penguin Group. The book received positive critical reviews, and won several awards. It inspired the founding of Rewilding Britain.
Iberá National Park is a national park in Argentina located in the northeast province of Corrientes. The national park adjoins the 5,530 km2 Iberá Provincial Park to the southeast. The national park and provincial park are both within the Iberá Provincial Nature Reserve, a conservation area of 13,245 km2 created in 1982. The combined protected area is the largest in Argentina.
Sea rewilding is an area of environmental conservation activity which focuses on rewilding, restoring ocean life and returning seas to a more natural state. Sea rewilding projects operate around the world, working to repopulate a wide range of organisms, including giant clams, sharks, skates, sea sturgeons, and many other species. Rewilding marine and coastal ecosystems offer potential ways to mitigate climate change and sequester carbon. Sea rewilding projects are currently less common than those focusing on rewilding land, and seas are under increasing stress from the blue economy – commercial activities which further stress the marine environment. Rewilding projects held near coastal communities can economically benefit local businesses as well as individuals and communities a whole.