Defra appoints new board members for Natural England

Defra has appointed three new Natural England board members.

Two of the new appointments – Lecturer in Animal Ecology, Lynn Dicks, and former environment secretary, Dame Caroline Spelman, started their three-year term on 1 March. The third appointment, Professor of Ocean and Society, Mel Austen, will start on 1 April.

Natural England plays a key role in delivering the government’s environmental priorities and ensuring the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations.

Andy Clements and Michael Winter will be leaving the board when their terms expire at the end of March.

Natural England chair Tony Juniper said:“Our Board plays a crucial role in supporting our organisation as we deliver for the environment and support the government’s targets to halt and reverse nature decline.

Austen is also director of the Centre for Systems Thinking: Ocean, Land and Society at University of Plymouth and Chair of the partnership of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in North Devon.

Dicks leads a research group working on sustainable agriculture and insect conservation at the University of Cambridge and a former communications strategy manager for Natural England.

Dame Caroline co-chairs the Net Zero Commission of the think tank Onward and chairs the Diocese Commission of the Church of England. She is deputy director for the European Sugar Beet Growers and sugar beet secretary for the Association and National Farmers’ Union.