Roger Meade
Roger Meade Associates
Key Skills
- » Peatland & Wetland Conservation
Short Biography
As English Nature’s Senior Peatland Adviser, Roger was involved in a suite of activities that increased his knowledge of the fen and bog resource and made a major contribution to the development of conservation thinking in the UK. In particular:
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Provision of a national lead on principles underlying peatland conservation, their evaluation, management, and designation. This included setting up workshops, such as that held at Risley Moss in 2003, for which Proceedings were compiled and printed. This work brought together the cumulative expertise of lowland raised bog managers in the UK.
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Selecting and justifying the choice of lowland bog and fen Special Areas of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive within England and in the UK via the JNCC role.
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Instigator and promulgator of the use of ‘FenBase’ (inc.‘BogBase’)in peatland prioritisation, a site-related database for lowland raised peat bogs, most recently to incorporate archaeological and palaeo-ecological information. This inventory includes the majority of lowland peatland sites in England, including original peatland now under agricultural use.
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Chair, UK Wetland HAP Steering Group (reedbeds, fens, grazing marsh and lowland raised bog). Revising HAP actions and targets, promoting specialist workshops and regional wetland visions, and reporting via the BARS database.
Having a major role in the instigation and provision of these activities means that Roger has a broad knowledge of peat-forming habitats in the UK and a detailed knowledge of a large number of sites, accumulated over 27 years with the NCC/English Nature, and before that as a keen amateur wetland conservationist and wetland research scientist. It also means he has a very wide network of contacts in statutory, academic, and voluntary organisations that can provide valuable information for this project.
