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Applied ecology: from science to conservation policy and practice

Summary of the impact

Dr Anne Goodenough and Professor Frank Chambers undertake applied ecological research with importance for conservation and management, nationally and internationally. Working with, or commissioned by, major national bodies including The Heather Trust, Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales, British Trust for Ornithology and RSPB, their research on rare species and habitats influences major national policy (e.g. species conservation priorities, and degraded habitat restoration and conservation). Furthermore, their research informs evidence-based changes in management for species (leading to conservation of internationally declining songbird, the pied flycatcher, at key sites throughout the UK) and landscapes (blanket bog and heather moorland restoration in Wales and England).

Submitting Institution

University of Gloucestershire

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Genetics

Designing Protected Areas

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Kent

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Questioning the ‘financialisation of nature’: influencing international policy thinking on biodiversity conservation

Summary of the impact

Dr Sian Sullivan's research, which challenges neoliberal approaches to biodiversity conservation policies, has been used by environmental policy-makers and advocacy groups internationally to show that contemporary trends in environmental policy development may intensify socio-economic inequality and increase the loss of biological diversity arising from economic development and commercial enterprises. A conference paper presented in 2010 became a major focus of the debate about the tendency towards `financialising nature'. Since then Sullivan's research has been seen as a source of grounded critique of neoliberal conservation policies. Several environmental advocacy organisations have used her work to support their campaigns, and she has been invited to contribute to high-level international policy forums concerned with biodiversity conservation.

Submitting Institution

Birkbeck College

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Management Strategies for Biodiversity Conservation

Summary of the impact

The creation of an evidenced-based framework for biodiversity conservation has profoundly altered approaches to conservation policy and practice, both in the UK and globally. Our research has underpinned strategic management that has supported tropical biodiversity resilience and mitigated ecosystem impacts in the face of changes in land-use, rural livelihoods and forest resource extraction. Our research on biodiversity and conservation management has had impact on governmental and non-governmental policy and practice at national (UK) and international (Brazil, Cambodia) scales, including directly influencing a forestry conservation Bill in Brazil.

Submitting Institution

University of East Anglia

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences: Forestry Sciences

ENV01 - Measuring and Conserving Biodiversity

Summary of the impact

Research by Andy Marshall has led to conservation of biodiversity. The research has spawned a long-term conservation project that is saving a threatened forest from destruction and has led to improved awareness of forest value and sustainable behaviour by local communities. The work has also led to a centre for biodiversity/education research, two educational books, and species revisions on the international Red List. Work on Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) led to the development of the world's first BAP by a zoo, followed by workshops and a paper, that are being used for an advice pack to be circulated to over 100 British zoos. Marshall is a regional committee member for monitoring UK BAP targets. Marshall is a senior member of a national committee for encouraging field conservation by zoos, and through this led a report used in a parliamentary debate. Three awards have been received.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Ecology

Global Biodiversity Indicators for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Summary of the impact

Scientists at the Institute of Zoology (IOZ) led the development of the IUCN Red List, the foremost tool for assessing species extinction risk. We further developed systems to evaluate the status of biodiversity at the national level (National Red Lists), quantify population changes (Living Planet Index) and robustly measure changing biodiversity (Sampled Red List Index), and global indicators of the status of biodiversity for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). These are used to drive conservation policy and public engagement by Inter-Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations, and national governments, and underpin measurement of adherence to CBD Targets for 2010 and 2020.

Submitting Institution

Institute of Zoology, London

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Ecology

3) Sacred and Protected Areas

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Aberdeen

Unit of Assessment

Theology and Religious Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

Conservation of Maerl (Calcareous red seaweed) in Europe

Summary of the impact

The application of legislation and policy protecting European maerl habitats under the EC Habitats Directive has been strengthened by research at QUB showing that maerl, coral-like seaweed, is slow-growing, intolerant of disturbance and burial, and supports high biodiversity. A new marine Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in Northern Ireland was designated for maerl in 2010. Maerl beds in the Fal and Helford SAC, the largest in England, were protected in 2009 from channel dredging until a Scientific Panel including a QUB academic has considered the results of a maerl-relocation trial in 2013.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Ecology

Agrobiodiversity Conservation for Food Security

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Birmingham

Unit of Assessment

Biological Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Genetics

Restoration of wetlands: best practice guidelines and practical toolkits for policy makers and practitioners

Summary of the impact

Our research on the hydro-ecology of restored wetlands has had impact through i) Changing the practices of conservation Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in wetland habitat restoration and monitoring. This has been achieved by re-framing approaches to restoration as `open-ended' rather than `prescriptive'; and by producing a clear and accessible new guideline document on how to monitor open-ended, landscape-scale wetland restoration projects; ii) Building capacity for NGOs in biodiversity monitoring through running 44 workshops for volunteers on species identification; iii) Challenging conventional conservation wisdoms on approaches to habitat restoration through debate with stakeholder groups; iv) Increasing the influence of conservation NGOs and government agencies by providing them with a new toolkit for measuring the ecosystem services of restored wetlands.

Submitting Institution

Anglia Ruskin University

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Ecology

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