Our Partnership

Taking Action for Biodiversity

By drawing its members from Local Government, Statutory Agencies and NGO’s, the Partnership is able to provide a wide-ranging knowledge base on a variety of issues, as well as creating ‘joined-up’ approaches to tackling threats to biodiversity, and facilitating conservation action for local biodiversity.

An early task of the Partnership was to produce our own Action Plan which outlined the habitats and species which needed the most urgent local action. Good plans are important, but they achieve nothing without action on the ground and over the intervening years, NESBiP has placed more of its efforts into delivering projects on the ground that make a difference for our biodiversity and equally importantly to people’s lives and wellbeing.

We have also learnt that working together is essential to make the best use of everyone’s limited resources and to get the best results.  And that it is just as important to work with others outside our partnership and to find ways of making progress, even with those we may not always agree with.

Meet the Coordinator

The Partnership takes action to preserve, promote and improve biodiversity through a number of projects and events to raise awareness, and employs a full-time coordinator to help fulfil this role.

The current coordinator is Liam McAllan, an Aberdeenshire local who started for the Partnership in July 2023:

“I look forward to continuing and building upon the incredible work the Partnership has already achieved.

Growing up I got to see how much nature and farming depend on each other working well. Since then I have been lucky to work with passionate and knowledgeable volunteers and professionals across the North East, all working to reverse biodiversity loss and safeguard nature for future generations. This also creates benefits such as mental and physical wellbeing, healthy food, a cleaner environment, and mitigating and helping us locally cope with the climate crisis- like reducing the effects of flooding. 

I am delighted to work alongside local authorities, environmental groups, community groups and businesses to support people and nature recovery at this crucial time.”

Groups within the Partnership

The Partnership currently has three active groups which meet throughout the year: a Steering group, a Management Group and an Awareness and Involvement Group.

The Partnership’s Steering Group is currently chaired by Roger Owen, formerly Head of Ecology at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency but now chair of the Aberdeenshire group of the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

The Steering Group also involves members of the following organisations: