About Andrew Lees
Andrew Lees was the Campaigns Director for Friends of the Earth and a leading environmental campaigner on a range of issues from water pollution to illegal waste dumping. He died suddenly in 1994 while on a working holiday in Madagascar campaigning against a large opencast mine. Read more about the Andrew Lees Trust.
The essay competition was established in his memory and gives students the opportunity to demonstrate a good understanding and analysis of relevant environmental law via a well written and researched essay.
2026 Competition winner
We’re delighted to have received 13 excellent entries for the 2026 Andrew Lees Essay writing competition launched in January.
Our thanks to Dr Victoria Jenkins (Professor, Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, Swansea University) and Dr Olivia Woolley (Professor in Biolaw, University of Durham Law School) who set the question: "Biodiversity is at risk from focuses on growth and private finance which are now key elements of the legal frameworks for biodiversity conservation and restoration in England." Discuss
Having reviewed all the essays and selected Ciaron Tobin, PgDL student at BPP, as the winner Dr Olivia Woolley said: "This year's essay competition received an excellent response with the topic of how focuses on growth and private finance are affecting England's biodiversity protection laws attracting many high quality entries. All entrants deserve credit, but the winning entry stands out in a strong field for the skill and erudition with which concerns over the commodification of nature under England's legal framework on biodiversity net gain were expressed. It will make an interesting and insightful read for the recipients of elaw."
Ciaron’s essay will be published in elaw before being released on the website; he also receives a free online ticket for the UKELA Annual Conference.
Our thanks and congratulations to all the entrants for participating in the competition. You gave Dr Olivia Woolley a hard job selecting a winner!
The other entrants, who will receive a year’s free UKELA membership, included: EU King Tan, Zarina Ilieva, Wasim Iqbal, Nursah Demi, Lily Habihiyan, Larissa Froggatt, Vibhav Peri, Catherine Bar, Wilfred Smith, Vandy Widyalankara and Yiming Zhou.
Keep an eye out next Spring to take part in the 2027 competition. In the meantime, you’ll be able to read previous winning entries on the website.
Previous winners
2025 - Winner: John Donovan - Read the winning essay
2024 - Winner: Colin Vanelli - Read the winning essay
2023 - Winner: Garima Thakur - Read the winning essay
2022 - Winner: Sebastian Van Dack-Owens - Read the winning essay
2021 - Winner: Niamh Kelly - Read the winning essay
2020 - The competition did not run in 2020
2019 - Winner: Ryan Ross - Read the winning essay
2018 - Winner: Samuel March - Read the winning essay