The 2009 IEEM Annual Conference will be on the theme of protected areas, including landscape protected areas as well as ecological protected areas such as SSSIs.

How do we value our protected areas? They were originally designated to retain wilderness areas for public enjoyment and nature conservation in its own right. Today they are threatened by pressures from recreation, access, novel (and potentially destructive) leisure activities, climate change, economic changes, food requirements which influence agricultural management and the need for affordable housing. These issues will ultimately affect the way protected areas are understood, managed and enjoyed by the public.

This conference will cover all types of designated areas and pose the following questions:

• Why do we need protected areas?
• What function do they serve?
• How do we retain areas of high nature conservation interest for their intrinsic value whilst taking into account the wider range of demands on protected areas?
• Are there any alternative ways of protecting areas of our landscape?
• What is the future for protected areas?