5th European Congress of Conservation Biology, Jyväskylä, Finland

Gill Petrokofsky presented two OxLEL papers the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology held in Jyväskylä, Finland from 12th to 15th June. The theme of ECCB2018 was ‘planetary wellbeing’ and papers and posters discussed the science and potential solutions for some of the most pressing 21st century challenges. The conference was attended by natural and social scientists, practitioners, industry members and government decision-makers. The conference was very well organized by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and comprised a varied programme in ten parallel sessions, as well as plenary talks to start each day. Of particular interest was the closing keynote address of Will Steffen (watch this on archived stream here ) ‘The Anthropocene, Planetary Boundaries and the Biosphere: Challenges of the 21st Century’.

The first OxLEL paper presented was based on Martin AC, Jeffers ES, Petrokofsky G, Myers-Smith I, Macias-Fauria M (2017), Shrub growth and expansion in the Arctic tundra: an assessment of controlling factors using an evidence-based approach Environmental Research Letters 12 (8).

The second paper was Eales, J, Haddaway N, Bernes C, Cooke S, Jonsson BG, Kouki J, Petrokofsky G, Taylor J (final revision) How does prescribed burning in temperate and boreal forests affect biodiversity? Environmental Evidence.

Funding to attend the conference was generously provided by Mistra EviEM