Prof. Dr. Marco Heurich

Prof. Dr. Marco Heurich is Head of the Department of National Park Monitoring and Animal Management at the Bavarian Forest National Park Administration and Professor for Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Biology at the University of Freiburg and the University of Inland Norway. His research focuses on the ecology, behaviour, and conservation of large mammals, with a particular emphasis on the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). He integrates innovative monitoring methods, such as GPS telemetry, camera trapping, and remote sensing, to understand lynx population dynamics and promote effective conservation strategies. Prof. Heurich is Chair of the EuroLynx Initiative and collaborates widely across Europe to advance transboundary lynx research, habitat connectivity, and coexistence between humans and large carnivores.

Sue Seymour, Northumberland farmer

My farm, Moss Peteral, is in the Northumberland National Park, between Hadrian's Wall and Kielder forest.  It includes many acres of carbon sequestering peat.  The whole farm is in a higher tier countryside stewardship agreement, with capital works including drain blocking, tree planting and hay meadow restoration.  My hill ewes and  small herd of White Galloway cows graze the land to benefit biodiversity and produce great tasting meat. 

Dr Deborah Brady, Lead Ecologist at The Lifescape Project 

Debs is an experienced ecologist specialising in mammals and the use of species reintroductions as a tool to address biodiversity loss at a landscape scale. As a founding trustee and now Lead Ecologist at The Lifescape Project, she leads the charity’s species restoration work. Her career has encompassed a wide range of mammal conservation and restoration projects, from managing non-native species to contributing to multi-species initiatives involving white-tailed eagles, pine martens, and hazel dormice. Deborah manages The Missing Lynx Project, which explores the ecological, social, and practical feasibility of lynx reintroduction in England. This has included coordinating the UK’s largest-ever consultation on species reintroduction, engaging with over 10,000 consultees across the identified habitat region and demonstrating broad regional support for lynx recovery.

Duncan Hutt, Director of Conservation at Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Duncan Hutt has worked for Northumberland wildlife Trust in a number of roles but most recently as Director of Conservation overseeing the conservation, land management, species projects and Northumberland Peat Parnership. Over the past year his role has also included the estate management of the Rothbury Estate, an exciting joint RSWT, NWT project working on the acquisition of a 3800ha estate in the heart of Northumberland. 

Duncan's first major project was on the internationally important Border Mires as part of a first concerted effort to restore these peatlands in Kielder Forest. He has been the lead for NWT in the Missing Lynx project working alongside Lifescape and RSWT in investigating the social acceptability of returning these iconic creatures to the English countryside. 

Craig Bennett - Chief Executive at The Wildlife Trusts

Craig has been described as “one of the country’s top environmental campaigners”, by The Guardian as “the very model of a modern eco-general” and, in 2021, was included in The Sunday Times Green Power List of the UK’s top 20 environmentalists.

Craig was formerly CEO of Friends of the Earth where he refocussed the organisation to empower communities to take action on the climate & ecological crises, resulting in a step change in the scale and impact of the movement, with over 200 new Friends of the Earth community groups set up during his tenure. He also led the organisation to numerous campaign victories including on bees, fracking and against the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Earlier in his career, Craig was Deputy Director at The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), and Director of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (from 2007 to 2010) which he transformed into one of the most progressive business voices on the international climate change agenda.

He is Honorary Professor of Sustainability and Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School, an Associate Fellow of Homerton College (Cambridge), a Senior Associate of The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and a Policy Fellow of The Centre for Science and Policy at The University of Cambridge. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.