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Dr Alan Dixon's research, undertaken in East and Southern Africa, has examined how local people develop wetland management knowledge, and how local institutional arrangements facilitate wetland management that balances livelihood needs with the maintenance of ecosystem services. In Ethiopia, research findings have been applied by the Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association, enhancing the livelihoods of 2000+ households. In Malawi and Zambia, the `Striking a Balance' project implemented wetland-catchment management initiatives with 300+ households, alleviating poverty amongst local communities. On-going research and field implementation activities continue to inform the wetland-livelihoods policy-making agenda of governments and local and international NGOs.
Research conducted by the University of Reading between 2002 and 2007 influenced management options mandated under the UK Government's agri-environmental schemes. Several innovative large-scale manipulative field experiments were used to measure the diversity of different groups of invertebrates in response to various management regimes in uncultivated field margins of farmland. The outcomes of this research fed directly into agri-environment scheme options and provided supportive evidence for management advice and advocacy work by several environmental non-government organisations. Changes in the management of field margins brought about through government scheme agreements and advocacy efforts by conservation groups has led to enhanced farmland biodiversity and improved habitat for threatened wildlife valued by the general public and conservationists.
Science has guided national dryland policy in Africa through approaches that have omitted local knowledge, and has informed international policy through implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), previously developed by a Roster of Experts. Our national and district-level research in Botswana has identified routes to increase community involvement in degradation monitoring, and our strategies have been rolled out nationally via agricultural extension workers, allowing knowledge to inform farming practices and land policy. Our analysis of the wider international context has led us to propose new science-to-policy pathways that have allowed the UNCCD to draw more effectively upon both local and scientific evidence.
Professor Gowing and his associates' research demonstrated the sensitivity of grassland species to soil moisture regime. They developed a method for quantifying the relationship between plant community composition and soil moisture regime which showed that controlling water levels in traditional ways led to conservation of important plant species and/or enhanced diversity. This research led to the Environment Agency issuing practical guidelines to site managers for these internationally important sites, with a lead section written by Gowing. Advice has been given directly to owners and managers via the Floodplain Meadows Partnership led by the OU, engendering parallel studies abroad.
The decline of bees, hoverflies, and other pollinators has been widely described as a "pollination crisis" (e.g. Progress Report of FAO on the Implementation of the International Pollinators Initiative - September 2012) which could have profound effects on both food security, and wild plant populations and the ecosystem services they support. Research by Professor Jeff Ollerton and colleagues into the ecology and diversity of plant-pollinator interactions has: (a) provided a scientific evidence base that has influenced national and international policies relating to the conservation of pollinator populations; (b) raised national and international public awareness of the subject of pollinator conservation; and (c) led to positive changes in UK gardening practices.
Impacts: I) Improved provision of environmental services in Belize, including the creation of plant reference collections / databases and the training of conservation professionals and students. II) Land-management policy formation by the Government of Belize and NGOs.
Significance and reach: Over the period 2009 - July 2013 there has been a step-change in the quality of biodiversity monitoring carried out by NGOs and the Government of Belize; including the latter being better able to meet international reporting requirements. Over the same period, 40 conservation professionals have been trained in Belize.
Underpinned by: Research into savanna plant diversity, led by the University of Edinburgh (1996 - 2012).
Water is essential to society. The water industry constitutes a significant part of economic activity locally, nationally and internationally, and land and water management are crucial to environmental quality. Typically, water resources are governed by top-down, hierarchical approaches at state level. In contrast, the research of Professor Laurence Smith has demonstrated the success of approaches that privilege local stakeholder input and collaborative management at catchment level. Research outputs have contributed to improved and reformed water management in the UK and internationally, evidenced by their adoption by local authorities, NGOs, Defra and others, and promotion in the guidance proffered by organisations including Defra and the OECD.
Meeting rapidly rising food demands at least cost to biodiversity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Since 2005, research in the Department of Zoology has demonstrated that measures to reconcile biodiversity and agricultural production are sometimes best focused on spatial separation (land sparing) rather than integration (land sharing).This work has had a significant impact on policy debate, and has informed policy decisions relating to management of the agri-environment at both national and international levels. Policy statements on increasing food production at least cost to nature now make explicit the potential role that land sparing may have, and place greater emphasis on the need for clear scientific evidence of costs and benefits of different approaches.
The eradication of alien invasive species is a conservation priority, but is rarely attempted in mainland areas given the logistical and economic challenges of species control over large areas. Any effective control programme must be underpinned by robust scientific understanding of the population ecology of the target species to ensure control is appropriately focussed and directed, and that efforts are not swamped by compensatory dispersal from neighbouring regions.
A University of Aberdeen study of water vole population ecology recognised sharp declines in numbers and identified the invasive, predatory American mink as a primary driver of population extinction. The world's largest mainland species eradication programme was then put in place by Aberdeen, involving many hundreds of volunteers. It has successfully removed breeding mink from over 10,000 km2 of Scotland and secured the future of an iconic symbol of natural heritage. This conservation success story is now used as a template for the management of invasive mink in other eradication initiatives in Scotland and internationally.
The research thereby impacted the conservation of natural resources and policy and planning of management.
Research and knowledge dissemination led by Greenwich on biological pesticides has made a major contribution to the introduction of novel safe commercial pesticides based on insect viruses to help farmers overcome the problems of chemical resistance in major crop pests in Asia and Africa. Research at Greenwich identified effective virus strains, methods of production and formulation which were then developed and evaluated with in country research collaborators before being transferred to local SMEs to start up production in India, Thailand, Kenya and Tanzania. Greenwich advised governments on adopting suitable regulation to support the registration and sale of these novel pesticides.