Why Biodiversity Matters!
An illustrated talk by Ray Woods
7.00pm, Tuesday 23rd February
Herb Garden Café
In his talk, Ray will explore the origins and inter-relatedness of life on Earth. He will be telling us about the latest discoveries about the impact that the evolution of life forms have had on our planet and its climate, and answering questions such as
- Did tiny bacteria turn the Earth into a giant snowball on more than one occasion?
- Why was the evolution of trees and dinosaurs a cause of great concern?
- Are we only here today because of the chance evolution of athlete’s foot and wet rot fungi?
The Earth is entering a new geological epoch of rapid climate change. Can we learn enough lessons from the past to ensure our survival?
Free admittance includes cake and hot drink served at 7pm. All welcome.
A poster to help promote this event is available to download.
About our guest speaker
Ray graduated from Manchester University with a joint honours degree in botany and zoology. Following postgraduate research in mycology and a teaching post at Manchester Grammar School, he then joined the Nature Conservancy in Wales.
Through successive reorganisations, he eventually managed a staff of over 70 in the Countryside Council for Wales in East Wales and was responsible for SSSIs, NNR, farm conservation schemes etc. whilst retaining a role as specialist advisor on fungi and lower plants to CCW.
He then worked for 6 years for the plant conservation charity Plantlife as their Lower Plant Development Officer for Wales.
He is a past President of the British Lichen Society and a member of its conservation committee, a member of the Wales committee of the Botanical Society of the British Isles, a trustee of the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust and an Honorary Lecturer in the Universities of Aberystwyth and Cardiff.
He also sits on the Welsh Affairs Committee of the Woodland Trust.
