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Molecular and evolutionary research by Dr Jim Groombridge at the University of Kent, (2003 onwards, lecturer 2003-2008, Senior Lecturer 2008-2012, Reader 2012-), undertaken in partnership with the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, the Seychelles Islands Foundation and Government Ministries of both states, has identified unexpected evolutionary distinctiveness and established high conservation priority for rare populations of birds and frogs on Mauritius and Seychelles. Subsequent studies have led to the recovery of three critically-endangered species and to the alleviation of problems with wildlife disease. Groombridge's research has led to renewed investment of international conservation resources across the Indian Ocean. His work on island species conservation is particularly important because islands host a high proportion of global biodiversity and help define our understanding of evolutionary science; these `living laboratories' also host many of the World's rarest species making them a global conservation priority.
Work by Dr Robert Smith continues to be used by government agencies in Mozambique and South Africa, has already guided the development of Protected Areas (PAs) with a combined area of 25,000 hectares, and has been used by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund to identify spatial priorities for their US$6.5 million funding programme. The team's research has had an obvious, direct and significant environmental impact in those regions. It has also had a broader global impact, including shaping the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) revised Key Biodiversity Area approach and developing software and training materials for conservation practitioners working in 103 countries. Protected Areas are the most widely used international approach for conserving biodiversity. Our research in Southern Africa is leading the development of systems for designing PA networks that meet biodiversity targets and minimise negative impacts on people in surrounding communities.
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT), a conservation charity launched at the University of Stirling in 2006, was aimed at bridging the gap between research findings and conservation practice. BBCT now has 11 staff, offices and staff based in England, Wales and Scotland, 8,000 paying members, and has involved >12,000 people in bumblebee recording or conservation. Other impacts include awareness raising through extensive media coverage for bumblebee conservation, creation of an education pack for primary schools, joint initiatives with a nationwide Garden Centre chain (Wyevale) and a supermarket (Morrisons), helping to create >2,000 ha of flower rich habitat, involvement in a reintroduction attempt for the locally extinct short-haired bumblebee, political lobbying and influencing national and international policy.
The Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management is the product of six years of international collaborative research and sector-based consultancy between Writtle College and Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (Germany). Activities at the Centre include developing a core body of internationally recognised research in the fields of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, complex systems science and adaptive management, and using the research to work with conservation organisations around the World to resolve significant environmental problems. Our sponsors include GIZ, Germany and WWF Germany, and our operations extend from Central America to the Ukraine, Russia, South Eastern Europe, China and Korea.
Conservation of migratory bird species is an inherently international endeavour, because the fate of these species depends upon the actions of nations throughout their migratory ranges.
Research into migratory wading bird populations by Jennifer Gill and colleagues at UEA has had the following impacts:
York research on the responses of species to habitat fragmentation has led to a paradigm shift in the approach to conservation that has permeated non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governmental agencies and intergovernmental bodies; the traditional concept of protecting and managing populations of species in isolated reserves has largely been replaced by landscape-scale conservation strategies, which increase the long-term survival of species. This new approach is now accepted government policy and has altered practical land designation and management for conservation over millions of hectares in the UK, as well as affecting the strategies adopted by most global conservation organisations and countries in the world.
Since 2008, the School of Environment & Life Sciences at the University of Salford has expanded its research in the field of population and conservation genetics, focusing on the application of molecular genetics and evolutionary theory on supporting the management of exploited living resources and conservation of endangered species and ecosystems. Molecular Ecology and Conservation demonstrates the following impact:
Increasing consumer awareness of the environmental implications of food choices, improving consumer confidence and food management policy, supporting environmental management and biodiversity, and guiding international conservation policy and management processes.
Food Security is one of the major global challenges confronting mankind. The Birmingham Plant Genetic Resource Group's (PGR) research and its contribution to policy implementation are helping to secure food supplies, mitigate the impact of climate change and maintain consumer choice, thereby impacting governments, commercial breeders, farmers and the public alike. PGR research on the development and implementation of agrobiodiversity conservation strategies, specifically on crop wild relatives' (CWR) and landraces' (LR) in situ and ex situ conservation, has helped national and international agencies meet their convention and treaty obligations, and underpinned food security. Their work has provided the necessary scientific foundation for global, European and UK impact: assisting the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation establish a global network for CWR in situ conservation, the European Commission create an inventory of traditional crop varieties and the UK government inclusion of CWR and LR diversity in environmental stewardship schemes, actions taken on the basis of the group's advice.
Alan Chandler's `New Conservation' research into the integration of conservation philosophy, practice and pedagogy has informed the development of architectural conservation policy and practice nationally and internationally. By shaping a new Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) education initiative, Chandler has defined and demonstrated the means of establishing continuity between professional architectural education and exemplary conservation practice. By articulating the relationship between cultural, technical and philosophical aspects of Conservation, the research communicates to a new generation of Professionals ideas about the management of change within historic monuments in the UK and in Chile.
Research at Imperial College led to the saiga antelope being included in the World Conservation Union's Red List at the highest level, Critically Endangered (2001). Imperial research underpinned the Medium Term International Work Programme (MTIWP) for the species under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS, 2006, 2010). It led to the formation of the Saiga Conservation Alliance (UK registered charity since 2010), and supported conservation interventions carried out in the five range states, including public education, alternative livelihoods, improved law enforcement, better scientific monitoring by governments and NGOs, and improved capacity of in-country scientists. Recipients range from Government ministers to local communities. The global saiga population increased by almost 190% between 2006 and 2012 as a result of these conservation efforts [section 5, source F]. The conservation processes set in place as a result of Imperial research are now seen as a model of best practice within the CMS.