Summary of the impact

Marine wood borers cause huge economic losses by damaging maritime structures. Research conducted by Cragg's team has driven the move from broad-spectrum, environmentally-hazardous wood protection methods towards environmentally-benign approaches tailored to target specific organisms. Their novel testing methods have accelerated evaluation of protection methods while reducing testing costs (impact 1). Their evaluations have been used to inform guidelines for selection of timbers for waterside construction issued by the UK Environment Agency (impact 2) and to market less well-known timber species (impact 3). Their information on invasive borers affects local and global decision making (impact 4).

Summary of the impact

The interdisciplinary study of Black and Latino visual cultures by Professor Celeste-Marie Bernier and Dr Stephanie Lewthwaite has led to the retrieval of lost and neglected art from the 19^th and 20^th centuries and to the display of this artwork for the first time. The research and recovery process has provided new information for curators and archivists who have begun to change their practice to reflect this expanded canon.

Summary of the impact

DU researchers have developed new algorithms and statistical models with which to make precise quantitative assessments of forest cover and forest attributes over small or large areas using satellite remote-sensing data, either alone or in combination with airborne or ground-based laser scanning. This research underpins the use of remote sensing as a cost-effective tool for aspects of forest resource management, planning, and policy compliance in many countries. Users include government agencies in the UK, Sweden, New Zealand and Guyana, and international forestry consultancy companies based in Finland with regional branches in New Zealand. DU researchers have also used these methods to help verify the Guyana government's entitlement to $250m under a UN initiative for avoidance of CO₂ emissions.

Summary of the impact

Research by the University of Huddersfield's Centre for Applied Childhood Studies (CACS) carried out between 2008-2009 has played a major role in tackling the problem of child sex abuse in the Caribbean. A study we have undertaken which UNICEF described as a "landmark" in the field has led to government acknowledgement of the problem, growing public awareness of its effects, new policies, legislative reform, innovative child protection programmes and improvements in the capabilities of professionals and agencies. The research is also helping to shape responses to child sexual abuse in other parts of the world.

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.

Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the development, adoption and dissemination of innovative `community-owned' approaches to the sustainable management of social-ecological systems (SES) within the Guiana Shield region of South America. Spanning the countries of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and areas of Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia, this region is of recognized global significance for carbon storage, fresh water resources and biodiversity. Its indigenous, Amerindian communities have a potentially crucial role to play in sustainable conservation policy and practice. However, local economic and cultural changes, extractive industries, and global dynamics such as climate change are bringing profound challenges to these local communities and their SES. Research at Royal Holloway has responded to these challenges by involving indigenous peoples in both biodiversity science and sustainability policy. The work allows indigenous communities to identify, through participatory research methods, the most effective practices they have for surviving and thriving sustainably.

The impacts of the research are of four main types:

• The use of research data and approaches in shaping local, national and transnational policy initiatives;
• The production of `community-owned' solutions to the socio-ecological challenges faced by indigenous communities;
• Intensive `capacity building' via training of local researchers, the promotion of local `champions' of successful best practices, and the support of autonomous action research by communities;
• Enhancing public understanding of conservation in the region, especially via primary education.

Summary of the impact

NRI's research in Africa has been influential in shifting thinking, policy and practice on customary land tenure and promotion of land tenure security. In particular it has promoted the recognition that customary tenure systems can sometimes provide a high degree of tenure security and do not need to be replaced wholesale, and that a variety of alternative approaches to conventional land titling are available. This led international agencies to develop new approaches and guidelines for land policy and set the stage for a new generation of land tenure projects and programme interventions in Africa, to which NRI is also actively contributing.