Minister expresses "biodiversity beacon" hopes ahead of summit

Monday 27 March 2023

A Nature Summit will take place in Jersey in May as the Government seeks to promote and protect the Island's biodiversity.

The event on 19 May will tie in with Invasive Species Week and World Biodiversity Day, with Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf, hoping that invitees from nature and biodiversity-related organisations will help shape government policy.

Deputy Renouf said: "Jersey has a stunning natural environment, but as elsewhere in the world it is under huge pressure from human activities in many ways, from water course pollution to habitat loss and reductions in wildlife – my ambition is to reverse these trends and make Jersey a beacon for nature recovery.

"As Minister, I have a responsibility under the Wildlife Law to bring forward strategies to promote biodiversity."

Key questions, he added, were around what Jersey's priorities should be, and how to best protect and enhance the Island's natural environment.

Pictured: Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf.

The summit will be ticketed, with invitations issued nearer the time.

Group Director for Natural Environment, Willie Peggie, added: “Our teams do a lot in these areas of work, in many cases we’re obligated to take certain actions and in others we have the ability to create bespoke local policy.

"We’d like to engage with our stakeholders to make sure we are generating the right protection, improvement and enhancement mechanisms for our unique Island biodiversity and natural environment.”

The government confirmed that the event would be focused on land above the high-water mark, with the potential for a separate Marine Environment Summit to be held in 2024.