Examination of Witnesses (Questions 35
- 39)
TUESDAY 16 MAY 2000
PROFESSOR COLIN
REID AND
PROFESSOR WILLIAM
SUTHERLAND
Chairman
35. May I welcome you to the Committee? May
I ask you to identify yourselves for the record?
(Professor Reid) I am Professor Colin Reid. Professor
of Environmental Law at the University of Dundee.
(Professor Sutherland) I am William Sutherland, Population
Biologist at the School of Biological Sciences, University of
East Anglia.
36. Do you want to say anything by way of introduction
or are you happy for us to go straight to questions?
(Professor Reid) Nothing particular to say other than
to thank you for the invitation to appear.
(Professor Sutherland) Likewise thank you. I am happy
to go straight in.
Mr Donohoe
37. What do you see as the major strength of
the biodiversity policy in the UK?
(Professor Reid) I should say that one of the strengths
is that nowadays there clearly is one, in that there is an attempt
to try to bring together the different strands which support biodiversity.
The recent years have seen considerable improvements away from
an approach based purely on a voluntary system to a situation
where that is now backed up by stronger measures where necessary
and the voluntary approach itself is not so heavily undermined
by contrary pressures through agricultural, forestry and other
policy. An awareness of biodiversity, the fact that it is looked
at as a whole is now one of the strengths though it needs to be
taken forward further.
38. What role do you play, if any, in that?
(Professor Reid) As an academic writing on the subject
one would hope that I can help to bring together the different
strands which help or hinder biodiversity policy and on a practical
level I give some assistance to local organisations, local groups.
39. Have you seen anything improve in that respect
over the last five years?
(Professor Reid) Yes, what has improved is the greater
awareness within government.
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