WENP Conference
2025 Conference
On 4 November 2025, WENP brought together nearly 200 leaders, practitioners, and partners to celebrate progress, strengthen connections, and explore how to accelerate nature recovery in the West of England.
The conference marked a one year milestone since the publication of our Local Nature Recovery Strategy and saw the launch of WENP's 2021-30 strategy.
Highlights included an address from Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, on the role of nature in creating a thriving region; discussions led by Matthew Lipton, Claire Wansbury and Matt Tooby on bridging the gap between ecology and infrastructure; and insights from health and community leaders on how nature can support better health and wellbeing outcomes.
Delegates also heard early findings from the West of England’s pioneering State of Nature monitoring programme and a thought-provoking keynote from Rebalance Earth co-founder Walid Al Saqqaf, who challenged attendees to rethink how nature is valued and financed to drive landscape-scale recovery.
Gallery
2024 Conference
The conference marked a significant milestone for the region with the launch of our Local Nature Recovery Strategy —the first of its kind to be published in England. Delegates heard from a range of influential speakers, including Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy, Natural England Chair Tony Juniper CBE and Triodos Bank UK CEO Bevis Watts, who shared their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of delivering nature recovery at scale.
A panel discussion, with prominent funders and investors, asked how they can work together, and with partners, to accelerate the pace and scale of local nature recovery. We heard from a cross-section of WENP partners about their commitment to deliver our shared vision, as well as from councillors across the region’s four Unitary Authorities about the role of local government in facilitating that delivery.
Delegates also enjoyed the first screening of a brand new short film about the West of England’s unique nature and landscapes.
Gallery
Catch up on the action
You can watch all the sessions and a short summary from the 2024 conference on our Youtube channel. In the video description, you’ll find timestamps so you can skip ahead to the sessions that interest you most.
