BTO travels to Europe!

04 Apr 2022

Goldfinches. Philip Croft / BTO

BTO travels to Switzerland and the Netherlands this week to share our work, experiences and research findings with colleagues from across Europe. 

Bird Numbers 2022

In Lucerne, Switzerland, staff will attend the 22nd conference of the European Bird Census Council (EBCC), Bird Numbers 2022. This conference is held every three years to bring people from across Europe together to discuss bird monitoring, research and conservation; this year’s gathering focuses on topics relating to the recently published European Breeding Bird Atlas 2.  The conference is also a great opportunity for networking with scheme organisers and data analysts from Europe to learn about new ideas and methods as well as discuss the new Migration Atlas. 

Sarah Harris will talk about the impact of COVID-19 on the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey, while Scott Mayson will explain how and why users can now record sightings of butterflies, mammals, orchids and other wildlife on BirdTrack.

Broader topics will be covered by David Noble, who will explore how we can utilise volunteer bird monitoring networks to determine key drivers behind species declines, and Dario Massimino, who will present his recent paper examining how estimates of population trends are affected by shifts in the timing of biological events and changing survey dates.

Dawn Balmer represents BTO alongside her role as Secretary of the EBBC, and our CEO Juliet Vickery will also be delivering a plenary session about the importance of diversity in ornithology.

Conference on Wind energy and Wildlife impacts

Meanwhile, BTO’s Aonghais Cook, Daniel Johnston, Ros Green and Chris Pollock are travelling to Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands, to attend the 6th Conference on Wind energy and Wildlife impacts (CWW).

This year’s conference focuses on themes spanning both onshore and offshore wind energy, and is an ideal opportunity to share BTO’s research into the impacts of offshore wind farms on wildlife.

The Emerging Markets session (developed by BTO, Natural Power and Bureau Waardenburg) will discuss the transition to renewable energies in new and emerging markets.

Aonghais Cook will open the Cumulative Effects from Offshore Wind Energy Development session (developed by BTO, the Biodiversity Research Institute and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), which will explore the need to understand the impacts of renewable energy in order to continue the transition to more sustainable power. 

Both these conferences will highlight the vital nature of BTO’s research in understanding and conserving the natural environment as well as in working towards a sustainable future.

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