An innovative horizon-scanning exercise, which has just delivered its latest report, highlights emerging topics of relevance to the world's natural environment and the diversity of its species. We can't hope to spot all potential issues. But if some of the issues prove to be important, then identifying and publicising them early on will better prepare us for future environmental challenges." - —Professor Bill Sutherland Humanity faces a breadth of environmental challenges that will continue to put pressure on policy makers, industry and civil society groups to develop solutions, and on researchers to provide evidence. What if we could look ahead to predict the emerging issues at an early stage, enabling knowledge to accumulate in advance of crucial decision making? For the past four years, just such a 'horizon-scanning' process has been undertaken in Cambridge by a group of experts from academia, conservation organisations and government. Led by conservation scientist Professor Bill Sutherland, the Miriam Rothschild Professor of Conservation Biology, the group aims to spot trends, novel technologies, new issues and even solutions that relate to biodiversity conservation. The idea is to identify serious potential conservation issues and opportunities before they turn into major challenges. Take biofuel, for instance.
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