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Over 25% of Britain’s native plants are threatened with extinction – your gift today could change that.
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Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible impact the National Lottery has had on nature restoration, both past achievements and exciting new projects.
From saving rare species from extinction, to giving a voice to plants and fungi and habitat recovery on nature reserves – meaningful conservation work takes many forms and needs a wide range of support. So, how do conservationists work with others to get support for widespread nature restoration? The answer…it’s a big team effort.
From our valuable members and supporters, the general public and important funders like the National Lottery – they all support our work.
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible impact the National Lottery has had on nature restoration, both past achievements and exciting new projects. If the plants and fungi could say thank you, they would!
*If you are a member you should have already received your personal email invitation directly from our team (contact us if you haven’t!). New members will receive a link in your welcome email.
Sarah heads up the Partnerships Team at Plantlife, building strong, two way relationships with a diverse range of funding partners from Grant giving bodies, to Trusts and Foundations and individual Philanthropists – helping them to achieve their goals for nature and people by supporting our work on plants and fungi. She loves making connections and building impactful long term partnerships to help Plantlife deliver vital conservation work.
A conservationist rather than an out-and-out ecologist or botanist, Paul is Plantlife’s Head of Species and Sites and leads the Nature Reserves team. He has worked in nature conservation for over 20 years, managing habitats and caring for protected sites all over England.
Join us to learn about how important individual plant species are and the fascinating relationships between plants and other wildlife.
Wild plants and fungi underpin all life on Earth. From insects, invertebrates, mammals and even us – plants are the building blocks of biodiversity.
Plantlife is fighting to save and protect threatened species, for their intrinsic value, and so they can support other wildlife.
Insects such as the Small Blue Butterfly and Oil Beetles, are in fact solely reliant on certain plants for survival. So, without working to protect individual species, the impacts on nature as a whole could be huge.
Alan is Plantlife’s new Species Recovery Programme Manager. He has a deep interest in the intimate relationships of plants, lichens, bryophytes and fungi with other species, particularly invertebrates. He joins us from Butterfly Conservation where he was Head of Conservation (Wales and Northern Ireland) and has previously managed nature reserves and designated sites. Alan has a strong background in land management and has been initiating conservation projects targeting threatened species and habitats for 20 years.
A passionate advocate for nature recovery, Meg is Plantlife’s Action for Species Officer. She advocates for species to be brought into nature recovery plans across the country, and champions for better taxonomic inclusivity to make sure none of our tiny wonders get left behind.
Join Dr Jonathan Mitchley to learn insights from the latest Plants, People, Planet paper, stories from students and festivals, and even get your own chance to join a mini-Botanical University Challenge quiz!
Dr Jonathan Mitchley (“Dr M”) shares the story of Botanical University Challenge (BUC) — now in its ninth-year inspiring plant-aware students across the UK and Ireland.
Founded to reconnect isolated young botanists, BUC has grown into a national, and potentially international, celebration of plant science, field skills, and the human plant community!
In this characteristically lively and visual talk, Dr M reveals how friendly competition, creativity, and humour can ignite a passion for plants, from field botany to plant-powered parodies. Expect insights from the latest Plants, People, Planet paper, stories from students and festivals, and your own chance to join a mini-BUC quiz!
Jonathan Mitchley (Dr M) is a passionate botanist devoted to making everyone go wild about plants. Through teaching, fieldwork, his website, and YouTube channel Dr M Goes Wild, he shares his infectious enthusiasm for plants everywhere. Creator of the cult video Extreme Poaceae and co-founder of the inspirational student botany quiz Botanical University Challenge, now intoits 9th year, he even rocks botany through viral hits like Botanical Rhapsody. His message: plants are fascinating, beautiful and vital, and deserve our love.
Rachel has managed conservation and public participation projects at Plantlife for over 14 years. She loves wild plants and fungi and thoroughly enjoys supporting other people to both develop their own appreciation and take action to conserve them.
Join conservationist James Harding-Morris as he uncovers the fascinating stories of Britain’s endemic species which are at risk of vanishing forever.
James Harding-Morris is a nature enthusiast with a lifelong love for exploring the natural world. Whether trekking up mountains in search of rare flowers, scouring fens for elusive moths, or investigating exotic invertebrates in hothouses, James’s fascination with wildlife is unwavering. James played a key role in delivering high-impact campaigns such as the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch and the BSBI’s New Year Plant Hunt and he is on a mission to ensure that everyone in Britain and Ireland has the opportunity to fall in love with plants.
From stepping outside into a green space or connecting with local wildlife – the therapeutic qualities of nature can be immensely valuable to patients going through cancer treatment. But how does this work? And how do you bring a green space into a care setting?
Cancer charity Maggie’s will be sharing their inspirational stories of how gardens and nature can play a crucial role in the management of chronic illness.
Join two members of Maggie’s team, Gilly and Louise, to learn about the benefits of connecting with green spaces, the benefits of patients being able to spend time outside and how they turned a hospital car park into a garden at their Southampton centre.
Louise came to gardening following a career creating nature-focused experiences in the museum sector. After gaining a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and a Master’s in Science Communication, she spent 15 years developing exhibitions and events in national museums. A fascination with botany and a love of gardening lead to RHS horticulture qualifications and a change of career direction. Louise joined Maggie’s Southampton in 2022 and is responsible for maintaining and developing the centre’s garden.
Gilly joined Maggie’s in 2020, following a 30-year career in cancer nursing in London and latterly Southampton. After finishing her PhD in Social Network Theory, Gilly remains passionate about putting her research findings in to practice at Maggie’s, supporting and empowering those impacted by cancer beyond the clinical environment.
Join us to hear about the journey this historic landscape has been on – from exploitation to protection – and how this nature reserve fits into the bigger global picture of nature conservation.
For years, peatlands have been exploited, drained and not valued for their importance to wildlife.
These special habitats which store carbon, are home to important wildlife and can help us fight the climate crisis – are in danger of being destroyed. But in recent years there have been glimmers of hope.
Plantlife’s Munsary Peatlands, part of the vast Flow Country in Scotland, is a place of restoration and protection. The blanket bog here is one of the most extensive peatlands left in Europe and it stores around 1.9 million tonnes of carbon locked up in peat. And last year it made history by becoming the first peatland to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status, the same as the Great Barrier Reef.
Alistair is the Head of Plantlife Scotland, leading a team of six Scotland-based staff delivering Plantlife’s work on grasslands, temperate rainforest, and species recovery, as well as managing Plantlife’s only Scottish nature reserve, a 1200-hectare blanket bog site in the Flow Country in Caithness.
Alistair has a background in land management, having spent most of his career managing nature reserves for a range of NGOs and statutory bodies.
Members Only
We are inviting our members to virtually spend a day with us and find our more about Plantlife’s ongoing conservation work, which has been made possible thanks to your valued support.
Jane leads Plantlife to champion the conservation of wild plants and fungi and deliver nature and climate solutions worldwide. She is a passionate and highly experienced conservation leader with a focus on collaboration and innovation to scale up impact and has worked internationally the last 30 years, connecting local and global solutions. Most notably Jane served as CEO of Wetlands International for 19 years after working for WWF in Europe and Australia. She became the first Executive Director of the Global Commons Alliance, furthering earth system science as a basis for systems change, before joining Plantlife in July 2025. Jane’s ecological research and conservation work began in the UK including working in senior roles for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and the Broads Authority. Jane has a love of wild places and is a keen amateur botanist. “Plantlife has a tremendous role to play in driving and delivering a nature and people positive future globally. I am honoured to work with this talented and passionate team, trustees, volunteers and partners to make this happen.’ Jane lives in North Norfolk together with her husband Greer where they are active in local conservation groups. Apart from being in nature, Jane enjoys tennis, cycling, painting and pottery.
David is the Founding Director of the MannionDaniels Group with companies in Africa, Asia and Europe. His work has focused on advising governments and donors on health sector policy and planning with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected states. Previously, David worked for the UK Department for International Development (now Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office) and the European Commission covering health, population and nutrition across Latin America, Middle East and North Africa and Asia regions. He has worked with non-governmental organisations such as MSF and HealthNet International and is a founding Member of AmplifyChange and the Menstrual Cup Coalition and is a trustee of the Bath & West Community Energy Fund. Originally trained as a zoologist, he has held a lifelong passion for natural history both at home in the UK and through his travels overseas.
With Rachel’s experience in managing protected sites across Wales and a strong focus on rare plants, the role of project manager for Plantlife’s Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn (Resilient Grasslands) project represents an ideal fit. This talk will explore how Plantlife Cymru is collaborating with and supporting farmers and landowners to promote more sustainable, nature-friendly farming and grassland management in Wales—and why farmers are among the most valuable allies in conservation.
Alistair is the Head of Plantlife Scotland, leading a team of six Scotland-based staff delivering Plantlife’s work on grasslands, temperate rainforest, and species recovery, as well as managing Plantlife’s only Scottish nature reserve, a 1200-hectare blanket bog site in the Flow Country in Caithness. Alistair has a background in land management, having spent most of his career managing nature reserves for a range of NGOs and statutory bodies.
Ben began his career in nature conservation as a volunteer at the age of 16, and went on to do a Masters degree in Conservation at UCL. He has spent over 20 years working in the landscape of the North Kent Downs, with 17 of those spent managing Ranscombe Farm Reserve with its truly unique assemblage of wildflowers. He is passionate about the history and landscape of the Kent countryside.
Rachel is the Head of Global at Plantlife, taking on the role in October of last year. Trained as a Zoologist, her experience in the global conservation sector spans almost two decades and much of her career has focused on delivering positive outcomes for biodiversity conservation through e.g., building capacity and strengthening networks of experts. She counts herself extremely fortunate to have worked with incredibly dedicated people and organisations, in many different countries, on many of the various challenges our natural world faces. Rachel is developing an ambitious global programme for Plantlife, to continue to raise the profile of plants and fungi in international policies and frameworks and scale up action through initiatives such as the Important Plant Area (IPA) programme and the Global Plant Conservation Strategy to deliver real impact on the ground.
Join London-based ecologist and educator Connor Butler for a fascinating evening exploring the real diversity in nature and exposing the biases that shape our understanding of it.
What’s natural or unnatural in nature might feel instinctive. But throughout history, societal biases have shaped our understanding of the natural world and sometimes warped our perceptions of nature. Queer ecology challenges this.
Fluidity is everywhere in nature. From sex-changing plants, to gender-fluid woodlice and even fungi where some species have more than 23,000 sexes!
Connor Butler is one of the leading figures in the queer ecology movement and has worked to develop inclusive programmes with many of the UK’s conservation and cultural organisations.
Join Connor for a fascinating evening exploring the real diversity in nature and exposing the biases that shape our understanding of it, hosted by Plantlife’s own Robbie Blackhall-Miles.
Connor Butler is a London-based ecologist and educator on a mission to make people notice and appreciate the smaller details in nature. He is currently leading a biodiversity audit of Chelsea Physic Garden, and has also been studying London’s dung beetles. His other work focuses on Queer Ecology, challenging traditional ideas about what is considered “natural” or “unnatural”. Over 1,500 people have taken part in his Queer Ecology nature walks so far, delivered with organisations such as The Royal Parks, Chelsea Physic Garden, Garden Museum, and Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Find Connor on Instagram, @Connor_the_ecologist
Robbie Blackhall-Miles is a plantsman and conservationist and heads up Plantlife’s work for the alpine plants of Eryri National Park through the Natur am Byth programme. His own garden is an accredited botanic garden and houses a collection of early evolutionary plants from all over the world. Robbie also runs a specialist conservation research nursery which is used for restoration and conservation initiatives both locally and internationally. He is an honorary associate professor at Nottingham University and honorary lecturer at Bangor University. Robbie can be found on Instagram at @robbieblackhallmiles
Join TV presenter and gardener Danny Clarke to hear his story of building gardens in urban spaces and using gardening and nature to empower people.
Danny Clarke is a British Garden Designer and TV presenter who shot to fame as BBC’s Instant Gardener, having started his own bespoke garden design company, the Black Gardener, in 1997. Currently, he can also be seen on ITV’s Love Your Garden, alongside Alan Titchmarsh. Danny is passionate about making a difference to climate change and community integration. He is known for his charismatic and fun approach to garden design which is affordable and desirable to people of all ages. ‘Having access to a garden should be a right, not a privilege’ and his biggest wish is that we all make the most of our green spaces for the health of the planet, our communities, and our souls.
Sarah Shuttleworth is Plantlife’s Specialist Botanical Advisor. She is an experienced field botanist with over 17 years of experience. Sarah is passionate about teaching botany, using creative ways to engage and inspire wildflower and fungi enthusiasts. She loves to explore the natural world and is an active member of two local botany groups.
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