ALISTAIR YEOMANS
CURRENT AND RECENT WORK
Plant biosecurity research and publications - humans have moved plants around the globe for millennia. The introduction of non-native plants into new regions has led to the diversification of food crops and forestry species, as well as the plants we use in our gardens and urban spaces.
It is only in recent decades that we have realised that moving plants, both nationally and internationality, can spread new and destructive plant pests (including diseases). I have worked with a range of government bodies and trade associations to research and improve our understanding of plant biosecurity systems.
Exotic plant pests are a significant threat to our food security, green infrastructure and natural capital. The Plant Health Alliance aims to protect our native flora and associated ecosystems from a range of damaging plant pests.
In January 2019 I coordinated the launch of the Plant Health Management Standard followed by the launch In February 2020 of the Plant Healthy Certification Scheme at Kew Gardens. The Standard aims to improve biosecurity throughout the horticultural trade.
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Information on the Standard and the Scheme can be found at planthealthy.org.uk
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Decades of neglect or inappropriate management left many British woodlands in poor silvicultural and ecological condition. Starting in 2008, I worked with Sylva Foundation colleagues and land managers to develop myForest. This online forest management software is now used by thousands of people to manage UK woodland sustainably. During this time I worked with the Forestry Commission England's Woodland Management Planning Working Group to develop the UK Forestry Standard management planning template.
Woodland Wildlife Toolkit - I worked with RSPB, Woodland Trust, Sylva Foundation and partner organisations to develop a site that helps identify rare and endangered species in local woodlands. By bringing complex data sets together into an online mapping system, people can see the species that have been identified in the vicinity of a woodland. Habitat guidance is provided as part of the website to help land managers create suitable conditions for woodland specialist species to thrive.
Online Natural Capital auction - Launched in 2018. Whilst seconded to University of Oxford, I worked with the Environment Agency and Sylva Foundation to develop a site that provided a platform to run reverse auctions for Natural Flood Management measures. A successful trial auction was run during the summer of 2018 with the Somerset Rivers Authority. In 2019 the site is being upgraded to improve functionality for future auctions.
BWS 2012 was built upon an important series of surveys undertaken by the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge since 1963. BWS 2012 was designed as a major national survey gathering information about ownership, markets and management. BWS 2012 incorporated the Independent Panel on Forestry (IPF) survey of woodland owners. The IPF survey was set up to provide information for the IPF's final report which was published on July 4th 2012. A summary of the survey – Growth Strategies – is published in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Land Journal.
OXFORDSHIRE FORESTRY STRATEGY
With the Sylva Foundation, we worked with local Government, Forestry Commission England, and 11 local NGOs to produce a forestry strategy for Oxfordshire based on the UK Forestry Standard. Download 'In a Nutshell'. This strategy was developed further into the Oxfordshire Treescapes Action Plan with the Woodland Trust.
In 2021 I worked with a grass roots collective of civic-minded Cayman residents to raise awareness of the islands' natural environment and how sustainable development can improve the health and wellbeing of the people of the Cayman Islands.