The Linnean Assembly 2026 - Restoring British Nature
On 29 April 2026, the Wild Britain Forum convened the Linnean Assembly at the Linnean Society of London, bringing together leading voices across restoration, ecology, farming, land management, marine conservation, species recovery, policy, and environmental science for a full-day working session focused on the future of nature recovery in the United Kingdom.
Moderated throughout by Rob Yorke, the Assembly was designed as a practical working forum centred on implementation, coordination, and delivery. The objective was not simply to discuss biodiversity decline in abstract terms, but to examine what is actively delivering restoration across Britain, where systems are failing, and what long-term national coordination may require under conditions of accelerating ecological change.
For more than two centuries, the Linnean Society has shaped Britain’s understanding of the natural world. The 2026 Assembly sought to build on that legacy by asking a different question: not simply how nature is studied, but how recovery is implemented across landscapes, institutions, and sectors over the coming decades.
The day opened with remarks from Gail Cardew and Rob Yorke, followed by an opening session featuring Derek Gow in conversation with Ben Goldsmith examining the ecological, cultural, and practical importance of restoring wild systems within modern Britain.
The Assembly then moved into a series of moderated working sessions focused on what is actively delivering nature recovery across Britain.
The Living Landscapes session brought together James Byrne, Sarah Mukherjee*, Matt Walpole, and Gavin Fauvel to discuss landscape-scale restoration, land stewardship, and implementation challenges across working environments.
Science and Climate featured Alastair Leake, Martin Lines, and Heather White examining agricultural systems, ecological monitoring, climate pressures, and the role of science within long-term restoration planning.
OECMs and Landscape Delivery brought together John Varley, Harry Jonas, Mark Lloyd, and Simone Lowthe-Thomas to examine working landscapes, governance structures, river systems, and flexible conservation approaches operating beyond traditional designation frameworks alone.
Urban Habitat featured Citizen Zoo alongside James Wallace, Ali Driver, and Joe Huddart discussing species recovery, public participation, and ecological restoration within urban and peri-urban environments.
The afternoon session on Coastal and Marine Recovery featured Louise MacCallum (replacing Charles Clover*) presenting work surrounding the Solent Seascape Project and the growing importance of marine recovery frameworks within broader national restoration planning.
The Assembly concluded with an extended dialogue moderated by Rob Yorke titled “What Works, 50 Years On”, featuring Charlie Burrell, Isabell Tree*, Amanda Anderson, and Jake Fiennes. The discussion focused on long-term land stewardship, farming systems, restoration delivery, ecological recovery at landscape scale, and the realities of implementing nature recovery across modern Britain over the coming decades.
Alongside the Assembly, the Wild Britain Forum released its Phase I Research Briefing examining globally threatened species distribution, protection gaps, and biodiversity pressures across the United Kingdom. Using publicly available datasets including JNCC, IUCN, GBIF, and England SSSI boundary data, the research identified substantial gaps between current species occurrence patterns and existing protected area coverage, while also reinforcing the growing importance of coordinated landscape-scale recovery approaches.
The Assembly concluded with the introduction of the developing UK Nature Restoration Framework, intended as a long-term initiative supporting coordinated restoration, pilot landscapes, species recovery, scientific assessment, implementation pathways, and future ecological planning across Britain.
Further research phases, pilot initiatives, and working sessions are now in development.
The Wild Britain Forum would like to thank all speakers, participants, researchers, partners, and attendees involved in the Assembly and its continuing work.
*Please note that Charles Clover, Isabella Tree and Sarah Mukherjee were invited and confirmed to participate in the Assembly, but were unfortunately unable to attend.
