Evaluating the benefits provided by landscape-scale conservation
Dr Kathy Hodder, Prof Adrian Newton, Sarah Douglas
Researchers from CCEEC are running a project funded by Defra to compare the benefits for wildlife and people produced by the increasingly popular integrated landscape-scale conservation, with the more traditional approach to conservation focussing on management in separate sites.
The landscapes of England and Wales have been increasingly modified by human activities so that natural habitats have become fragmented, and wildlife progressively more isolated. Conservationists have therefore called for action to reverse this trend and to manage proactively for dynamic, connected landscapes that allow species to move between patches or along corridors of habitat. It is compellingly argued that this type of landscape management can provide numerous benefits both for wildlife and people, and that conferring the ability for wildlife to move will provide increased resilience to climate change.
Surprisingly though, what is lacking at present is evidence for tangible sustainability benefits which differentiate a landscape-scale approach from more locally targeted conservation actions (e.g. those tied to agriculture or forestry). These benefits include social, economic and environmental factors.
The research project will create alternative future scenarios for a selection of landscape-scale projects in England and Wales; the planned landscape-scale management approach, and an alternative site-based approach which may have occurred under a ‘business as usual’ scenario, without the landscape-scale project. The costs and benefits, in terms of biodiversity enhancement and ecosystem services, for the two futures will then be valued and mapped. Differences in the provision of the whole spectrum of ecosystem services will be considered, including protection from flooding, storage of carbon to help alleviate climate change, recreation opportunities, and provision of sustainable food, fibre, fresh water and fuel.
In addition to providing a realistic appraisal of specific benefits, the results of the review may assist in identifying locations with particular potential for landscape-scale restoration initiatives, noting that the opportunities and constraints will differ widely between landscapes.
This project covers many disciplines including environmental and social sciences. Researchers include ecologists from the Centre for Conservation Ecology & Environmental Change (CCEEC) and economists from Services Management as well as external collaboration with the NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Project leader: Kathy H. Hodder
For more information contact:
Kathy Hodder khodder@bournemouth.ac.uk
Sarah Douglas sdouglas@bournemouth.ac.uk
