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1. The conservation of biodiversity depends upon both policy and regulatory frameworks. Here, we identify priority policy developments that would support conservation in the UK in the light of technological developments, changes in knowledge or environmental change. 2. A team of seven representatives from governmental organizations, 17 from non-governmental organizations and six academics provided an assessment of the priority issues. The representatives consulted widely and identified a long-list of 117 issues. 3. Following voting and discussion during a 2-day meeting, these were reduced to a final list of 25 issues and their potential policy options and research needs were identified. Many of the policies related to recent changes in approaches to conservation, such as increased interest in ecosystem services, adaptation to climate change and landscape ecology. 4. We anticipate that this paper will be useful for policy makers, nature conservation delivery agencies, the research community and conservation policy advocates. 5. Although many of the options have global significance, we suggest that other countries consider an equivalent exercise. We recommend that such an exercise be carried out in the UK at regular intervals, say every 5 years, to explore how biodiversity conservation can best be supported by linked policy development and research in a changing world. 6. Synthesis and applications. Opportunities for policy development were prioritized and for each of the top 25 we identified the current context, policy options and research questions. These largely addressed new issues relating to developing topics such as ecosystem services, landscape planning and nanotechnology. We envisage that this will largely be used by researchers wishing to make a contribution to potential policy debates.

The tissues of corals deposit an aragonite exoskeleton beneath their outer living film at a rate dependent on growth and hence on environmental conditions. This typically results in annual (seasonal) bands being formed within colonies. By analysing molecular organic markers within these bands, our research suggests that coral skeletons record contamination from oil and potentially could be used to investigate other anthropogenic and biogenic organic inputs. Our analyses of sections from within corals (Porites lutea) sampled from the Gulf coasts of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia demonstrate discrete bands of oil contamination which, using selected terpenoid biomarkers, can be source-indexed to specific oil fields (i.e. Kuwait, Iranian or Arabian crude oils). Together with dating using microscopic and X-ray inspection, this offers the potential to investigate contamination during recent years. Further research is, however, necessary to elucidate degradation mechanisms during, and following, the occlusion process of organics within coral skeletons.