A major environment meeting being hosted in the Isle of Man for the very first time is now underway.

The Inter-Island Environment Meeting (IIEM), now in its 25th year, is taking place at the Villa Marina in Douglas. Starting on Wednesday (September 17), it will continue until Friday (September 19).

The meeting is bringing together more than 120 participants from across the British Isles, including the Channel Islands, the Isle of Scilly, Lundy, the Isle of Wight, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The theme of IIEM25 is ‘Collaboration for Greater Impact’, with a focus on building alliances across sectors to address climate change and biodiversity loss. For the first time, the programme includes a significant contribution from business and industry.

Delegates are representing government bodies, environmental organisations, academia and companies with an interest in conservation partnerships.

Sessions include talks, panel discussions, networking opportunities, field trips and a reception at Government House.

The event opened with remarks from Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and will close with comments from Chief Minister Alfred Cannan MHK.

A new third day has been added to the programme to explore business and nature collaboration, which will take place on Friday.

This will feature sessions on green finance, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) innovation, and case studies of corporate partnerships with conservation groups. It will also include Eco-Match, a pitch-style showcase where environmental projects present to potential business partners for seed funding and support.

Graham Makepeace-Warne, chief executive of Manx Wildlife Trust, said: ‘We’re bringing together forward-thinking people from conservation, science and industry to explore what becomes possible when expertise and resources are aligned.’

The main sponsor is Visit Isle of Man, alongside support from Taxa Genomics, Appleby, Lloyds Bank and Conister Bank.