Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/R012164/1
A spatial conservation plan for the UK
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor C Beale, University of York, Biology
- Grant held at:
- University of York, Biology
- Science Area:
- Freshwater
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Climate & Climate Change
- Conservation Ecology
- Abstract:
- BACKGROUND: Protecting land through the formation of nature reserves and national parks has been a cornerstone of conservation policy for decades. In the UK the Lawton Report on 'Making Space for Nature' reviewed the degree to which our protected area network is fit for purpose and found some key weaknesses. Simultaneously, the UK has signed up to international agreements on protected areas, seeking to meet the Aichi Target of increasing protected areas to 17% of land area and Britain's exit from the EU will require a thorough review of national conservation priorities, many of which are implementations of European commitments. A key problem for expanding our protected area network is identifying where, in our already crowded UK landscape, we can expand the network of protected sites. Over recent decades, spatial conservation planning has emerged as a discipline within conservation science with a number of well-known tools now available to assist this process, both when building a new network of protected areas from scratch, and when building on existing protected sites, but whilst strategic conservation planning has had a profound impact on conservation policy in other countries as yet there is no formal spatial conservation prioritisation within the UK. Additionally, new challenges have arisen that need to be included within conservation planning systems: how should we incorporate the anticipated movements of species associated with global change, or the identification of potential areas where the climate may change less? What happens when we try to incorporate values such as the soil's capacity to store water and prevent floods or to store carbon and limit climate change within traditional spatial conservation planning? Would spatial priorities be different if we consider different ways of counting the diversity of live? AIMS This project will identify priority areas for new nature reserves across the UK to help Natural England and other agencies implement governmental policies. In doing so it will identify generic principals for incorporating climate change in spatial conservation planning, and will address how consideration of additional priorities (such as carbon storage) can be considered alongside species distributions. APPLICATION and BENEFITS This project is extremely applied: it will help project partners Natural England and the other statutory bodies in Wales and Scotland who are supporting the work with responsibility for implementing government policy know exactly where new nature reserves should be placed, and which reserves may be priorities for expansion. Several areas identified as priorities will likely see real changes in their practical management and protection as a consequence of this work, since our partners are responsible for management of significant areas across the UK. Moreover, the knowledge we will gain of how to effectively incorporate climate change and other new conservation challenges into spatial prioritisation will help planners across the work develop improved spatial conservation plans. Ultimately, the project will result in better protection for wildlife and natural resources in the UK, improving the quality of life for the British population.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/R012164/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- NPIF Allocation
This training grant award has a total value of £88,293
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £17,295 | £59,998 | £11,000 |
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