Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

Conservation in the 21st Century

David Craven, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

When the conservation movement started in the 19th century, the priority was on individual species. Today, in light of climate change and ever-shifting international perspectives, how do conservation bodies think about nature conservation?

David Craven has been East Regional Manager at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust since 2018, where he and his team oversee important sites such as Askham Bog, Flamborough Cliffs, and Spurn Point.

Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm event start:

We are holding this free Cafe Scientifique session on Wednesday 17 September 2025 from 7pm, talk starting at 7.30pm at City Screen Basement, Coney Street, YO1 9QL     Lift access available. No Booking necessary.

Member’s report

David Craven took YPS members through the history of conservation up to the present day, focusing mainly on the United Kingdom, but with a nod to Mongolia, and starting with Gilbert White and his fellow gentlemen naturalists who had leisure to ‘wander a patch’. The 1800s brought the Romantics such as Wordsworth and Ruskin whose idea of wilderness inspired their writings but was misplaced. However, this did lead to the emergence of societies based on the belief that spiritual and moral good could be enhanced by preserving natural spaces, culminating in the founding of the Commons Preservation Society in 1865. Four years later, the Preservation of Seabirds Act of 1869 was passed following public outrage at the manner in which feathers were obtained for fashion, possibly a first in world conservation legislation except, perhaps for earlier work in Mongolia. Twenty years further on came The Plumage Act of 1889 and it was this particular piece of legislation which led to the RSPB.

Then in 1900 attention moved away from a focus on species in favour of the preservation of habitats when the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, father of the wildlife trusts, was founded and Wicken Fen was opened. Yorkshire’s first reserve was Askham Bog purchased jointly by the Rowntree and Terry families and handed over to the Yorkshire Naturalist Trust to manage in 1946. There are now 115 nature reserves countrywide amounting to approximately 3000 hectares.

Joining the European community brought with it extra protection much of which has so far remained in place in spite of Brexit and today’s focus is on the impact of humanity on wildlife, on biodiversity and ecosystems. Although much attention has been on rewilding, this can also present as a challenge and space is what matters for nature as set out in the Lawton principles: bigger, better, more and joined up. The aim is to reach 30% of land managed well for nature by 2030 and ideally 50% by 2050.

A lively conversation followed the presentation including, helpfully, from a student from Mongolia.

Dorothy Nott