On 31 December I hang up my Biosphere boots – at least the ones marked ‘chair’ – and begin a new challenge to support the vital work of The Living Coast’s partners. To be able to continue making a small contribution will possibly help me more than the Biosphere but if it adds a little value here and there to the amazing efforts of our partners and our brilliant Biosphere team, to build a more sustainable Sussex then I will be very happy

I am certainly going to miss the wonderful work that the chair role has given me the privilege of getting involved in, and it’s not easy to put into words the depth of gratitude that I feel for having had those opportunities and towards all the people that make it happen.

The Biosphere has been blessed with a brilliant and supportive executive board and it has been a pleasure to work with them all. Our partners number in excess of 40 and we will see that grow in the coming months and years as our geography has grown. A very big thank you to all partners, current and future who have supported the concept, the philosophy and the actions on the ground of the UNESCO Biosphere. Many of them have been involved right from the start in 2014 and in the years of preparation before that.

A thank you to all our local stakeholders and not least Brighton & Hove City Council, Lewes District Council, Adur District Council, Brighton & Hove Buses, Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, the Environment Agency, Fabrica, Rampion Offshore Wind, South Downs National Park Authority,  So Sussex, Southern Water, Sussex Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority, and the Universities of Brighton & Sussex amongst many others, who have been constant active supporters throughout since we began our journey as the Brighton and Lewes Downs Biosphere, before becoming The Living Coast.

Personally, I have been very fortunate, and it has been the good fortune of the Biosphere Partnership, to have at its heart, the calibre of such values-driven officers as we have had in Sarah Dobson, Ed Santry and until recently Melanie David-Durand. All so dedicated to the UNESCO Biosphere mission and passionate about advancing its aims through collaborative work with our partners and others.

It is with considerable relief as well as delight that we have succeeded in finding an excellent new chair to take the Biosphere forward, someone with great experience and real passion for the work. In fact, someone who came looking for us just as we went about looking for, well, them, I guess. It is not always so straightforward to get the stars to align in these situations. This is absolutely the right person at the right time for the next stages of development of the Biosphere in the changing political, economic and social environment we can see coming down the tracks. Do look out for the forthcoming announcement introducing the new chair

Thank you to all of you amazing people out there whether formal partners or not, who are doing so much to improve our future lives and relationship with our natural surroundings and may you long continue to inspire, lead and, through your action, build hope and indeed belief in our future together.

“As you battle the disappointments and frustrations, keep your glass half full, and remember, it is worth the fight, because it is heart-breakingly beautiful.”

– Martin Harris