CMA Conference 2025 - Communities Helping Nature to Recover

This three-day event will take place in the historic area of Ironbridge and will feature workshops, presentations and field trips exploring the role that countryside managers and communities share in helping nature to recover, providing opportunites to learn from experts and like-minded colleagues, with invaluable time to network.

Day one will feature presentations and workshops based around the ‘Nature for People, People for Nature’ theme, with a combination of academics and countryside practitioners sharing experiences and talking about successes in bringing communities together to benefit nature, but also how we must learn to value the benefits nature gives to people.

Day two is field trip day - this year’s field trips will include a National Trust estate, a National Nature Reserve, 2 National Landscapes and an urban based visit looking at heritage.

Each visit will focus on the practical side of involving people in rural, urban and greenspace management, and have been chosen because they include projects with a strong focus on how nature and people relate and benefit each other.

Day three will focus on 'Next Generation Nature' taking a look at young people in the environment, with particular emphasis on Youth Ranger schemes. Again this will include examples from practitioners who have been running successful youth orientated environment projects and will also include a workshop exploring how the CMA can better support Youth Ranger Projects.

Conference keynote speakers will include CMA patron Chris Baines and Mike Appleton, Director of Protected Area Management with Re:wild and Vice Chair for Capacity, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. We are also looking forward to hearing from the European Ranger Federation and taking part in Dark Skies activity each evening.

More details will be released soon but book now to ensure your place and to benefit from the early bird discount!