Tropical Ecology and Conservation field course

Lopé National Park, Gabon as part of the MSc Environmental Management (Conservation) and undergraduate degrees in Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling 

Get in touch with the course coordinator Dr Nils Bunnefeld or contributor Dr Kate Abernethy for further information. Download the MSc Gabon field course poster. Read our blog about field work in Gabon here or check us out on twitter under the hashtag #GabonStirField.

Useful information from the 2017 field course:

faq-gabon-enmpg24-2017 suggested-packing-list-enmpg24-2017 enmpg24-module-outline-2017

Module content

The field course will cover the underlying ecological and socio-economic theories in tropical forest ecology and conservation which not only shape the management decisions at Lopé National Park, but are highly significant to global tropical ecology and conservation.

• Biodiversity assessment and flagship species conservation

• Land use change and climate change

• Nutrient flux and trophic cascades

• Invasive species

• Sustainable resource use

Upon completing this course, students should understand tropical forests from two angles: their conceptual underpinnings (lecture series) as well as practical techniques (field sessions) for decision making in a complex world (discussion sessions, presentations). They will be equipped with a flexible kit of ecological and socio-economic tools for carrying out data collection, analyses and interpretation in tropical forest systems, including how forests interact with human impacts such as hunting, forestry and protected areas. This will enable students to make decisions based on scientific evidence to formulate policy and develop management plans for a sustainable future.

The practical course will introduce students to the real-time challenge of managing a significant protected area, enabling classroom taught skills and knowledge acquired during the MSc courses to be applied and tested in a inspiring situation in Lopé National Park. The course will also expose students to the wide benefits of the long-term, multidisciplinary research carried out by Stirling in Lopé and provide a platform for development of further research project ideas.

Teaching will cover the major conservation issues that shape management strategies, the science that is required to underpin good policy decisions on those issues, the data collection and analytic techniques that support that scientific enquiry and finally the challenges associated with presentation of science to the range of professional and civil society stakeholders affected by protected area management.

Accommodation

• CEDAMM (Complex Educatif Dr. Alphonse Mackanga Missandzou) is the dedicated training centre in Lopé National Park
• Twin rooms
• Outdoor and indoor teaching facilities
• Internet and WIFI
• Refectory and communal areas

Costs for 2018

£2,000. This includes the transport (from Edinburgh to Lopé NP plus local transport), accommodation in Libreville and CEDAMM (twin rooms) and full board and fieldwork costs for 2 weeks.