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Dr Lusseau's work at the University of Aberdeen into the impact of man's activities on wild animals has led to changes in public and environmental policies in several nations as well as changes in international policies. He developed insights as well as modelling approaches to understand the consequences of human disturbances on the viability of animal populations.
The Aberdeen work has led to a change in the way the environmental impact of a range of industries — including tourism, marine renewable energy and oil & gas — is assessed. Lusseau developed best approaches to manage the disruptions of animal behaviour that those activities created to ensure that those disturbances do not endanger the viability of wild animal populations.
Specifically this research resulted in impact that influenced international policy development and international planning processes. It also informed planning decisions and changed the way environmental risks and hazards are managed in the UK, USA, and New Zealand, and informed changes in legislations and regulations in the USA, UK and New Zealand.
This case study details the impact of Marvin's ethnographic anthropological research into human-animal relations, which places animals in cultural and historical context. This work has been foundational for the establishment of the new field of human-animal studies and has led to impact in three distinct areas. Through publications and direct public engagement, this work has had an impact on public understanding of the wolf, and on a body working for its conservation. The process of research and subsequent dissemination of publications on foxhunting has provoked debate and influenced the understanding of foxhunting groups. Finally, through a collaborative approach, research on the public exhibition of animals by taxidermists and in zoos has enhanced the preservation and creative presentation of cultural heritage.
Conservation activities must be well grounded in solid science to be effective. Our research identified specific threats to the survival of threatened species in Sichuan Province, China. Research outcomes were used to create, maintain and monitor nature reserves, ensuring species survival. The revelation that human cultural and subsistence activities were adversely affecting threatened species led to successful promotion and adoption of beneficial alternatives to these behaviours. Our research provided the basis for technical support to local communities through capacity building and community development, empowering indigenous ethnic minority populations to protect forest habitat for wildlife. LJMU-led research identified the factors which adversely impacted breeding success of threatened birds, creating opportunities for the amelioration of these threats and promoting conservation of threatened species.
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.
Research by Dr William Tuladhar-Douglas on biocultural diversity and religion in sacred landscapes in the Himalayas has had significant impact on conservation policy and practices for ecosystems in the Himalayas. His research has reinvigorated debate about culturally appropriate modes of engagement and challenged the concept of `religion' that conservationists use in their work with indigenous communities. This is particularly the case in terms of concepts of personhood which are held by certain indigenous peoples in relation to non-human creatures, and the ways in which traditional practices engage with non-human persons in the form of animals, plants and deities. Through directly influencing the policy and practice of the World Conservation Union (the leading international body in world conservation), Tuladhar-Douglas' research has led to culturally appropriate understandings of `personhood' being recovered into the management of protected areas. This has changed the interplay between local cultural variation, threats to biodiversity, indigenous perspectives and international conservation norms. Furthermore, his work has determined that there is greater capacity to engage with traditional peoples in conservation, helping to transform them from being `paper stakeholders' to genuine participants. The resulting policy changes are likely to help achieve resilient and successfully protected sites.
The domestication of animals — some ten thousand years — ago has allowed important insights into the origins and spread of farming across the globe and the impact that had on human biology and culture. Research carried out by an international research group, led by Aberdeen and Durham Universities, has brought understanding of this fundamental change in human history to a broader public, resulting in impacts on culture and quality of life. The research findings have featured widely in TV and radio programmes, both in Britain and abroad. The main researcher was also invited to participate in a six-month (privately-funded) experimental sailing expedition that traced the migration route of ancient Austronesian settlers into the pacific, which led to the collection of unique samples for research. The voyage resulted in a film and a book.
Research from the Department of Zoology has been instrumental in identifying residues of the veterinary painkiller diclofenac in cattle carcasses as responsible for catastrophic declines in vulture populations across the Indian subcontinent. As a result, the drug has been banned for veterinary use in the relevant countries, and an international conservation effort (SAVE) to Save Asia's Vultures from Extinction has been set up. Declines have since slowed, captive breeding programmes have been introduced, and local people have been trained in monitoring work and advocacy. There has also been inter-government collaboration to support conservation efforts, the first example of such collaboration on the subcontinent.
Research undertaken at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) studied habitat enrichment in captive coyotes (with the National Wildlife Research Center in Utah), and herd composition of donkeys, horses and mules (with the Donkey Sanctuary). These studies observed social and environmental interactions, addressing important welfare indicators in gregarious species. The work identified welfare issues in both sites and provided the necessary evidence to allow improvements to be made.
Specifically, this research has:
1) led to changes in the husbandry practice and policy in both partner institutions that have improved animal welfare;
2) improved how the Donkey Sanctuary trains international partners and undertakes welfare education.
African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus; referred to as `AWDs' hereafter for brevity) have been classed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for 22 years. Large, well-managed captive breeding programmes provide a safety net to restore wild populations. However, the management of the AWD population has been difficult owing to an incomplete family record of captive AWDs, which risks introducing genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. A genetically informed management plan developed by University of Glasgow researchers has provided a genetic measure of diversity and establishes a genetically informed pedigree, which is used in the European Endangered Species Programme for African Wild Dogs. This has introduced a more informed means to manage the captive AWD population, to maintain the genetic diversity of the species across the European zoo network (roughly half the world's captive AWD population), with 53 zoos in 16 European countries (and Israel) currently participating.
During the last 10 years Cardiff University researchers have developed and applied a range of genetic and molecular analysis techniques to inform conservation and biodiversity policy and practice in regions around the world where specific species and biodiversity are under threat. Genetic research on orang-utans and elephants in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Borneo has guided strategic action plans for these species. Cardiff's molecular censusing and genetic analysis of giant panda populations in China have directly informed the strategic relocation of individual animals into isolated populations in the wild to preserve the genetic diversity of the species.