The role of politicians is to formulate, debate, and enact policy. For this process to work effectively, they need high-quality, unbiased data. The way politicians choose and use data therefore has a profound influence on the world we live in. Likewise, the way scientists package their data will affect how policymakers view those data. This post discussing science-based policy comes from my time at the European Parliament as part of the British Ecological Society’s Parliamentary Shadowing Scheme.

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Modern notions of conservation and development surfaced somewhere in the late 1800s (of course indigenous concepts of sustainability and the value of nature go back millennia). At this time there was (and largely still is) an economic divide between countries which had enjoyed/endured an industrial revolution and those that hadn’t, broadly falling across the North-South divide.

A pre-industrial society looks something like this:

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A buff-tailed bumblebee approaches a flower of the buzz-pollinated buffalo bur. © Vallejo-Marín.

By Mario Vallejo-Marin

It is often said that bumblebees should not be able to fly. Their heavy bodies and relatively small wings provided an early challenge to aeronautic buffs in explaining how these furry insects were able to take off, let alone manoeuvre in the air while searching for food among flowers. Yet, bumblebees are accomplished flyers, and their success in the air is in part due to strong thoracic muscles that allow them to beat their wings faster than a neuron can fire. But these flight muscles are also responsible for a little known trick that only bees can do: they can pollinate flowers using high frequency vibrations. Read More

Posted by Ana Nuno. Text also posted at Imperial College Conservation Science

Some time ago I blogged about my PhD research on managing social-ecological systems under uncertainty. I used the conservation of harvested ungulate species in the Serengeti, Tanzania, as a case study to investigate the importance of considering multiple types and sources of uncertainty when making conservation decisions. Far from being simply an interesting academic question, I’d argue that the need of acknowledging the social-ecological context and uncertainty in which conservation interventions take place has never been greater. Hear me out… Read More

The Ustyurt Plateau, Uzbekistan: a globally-important example of the semi-arid biome. Image: A. Esipov

Uzbekistan isn’t a country that necessarily springs to mind when thinking about pioneering conservation. Nestled in the heart of Central Asia, it’s one of two double-landlocked countries in the world (handy pub quiz knowledge right there), and is best known for its silk road cities and Muynak’s collection of fishing boats stranded in desert following the Aral Sea disaster. Read More

Yes, the situation is pretty bleak and scary; lions have now declined in many parts of Africa and a recent study in PLoSOne showed that lions only occupy 25% of their historic range. BBC reports “Lions facing extinction in West Africa” with similar headlines in The Independent and the Daily Mail. It is worth pointing out that the PloSOne paper found that the total operating budget and budget per km2 of a protected area was positively correlated to lion persistence, indicating that shortage of money is a major problem for protected areas in Africa. Most people would probably agree that it would be good to provide more money for conservation of charismatic mega-fauna and biodiversity as a whole. Read More

How many internal research days, symposia, PhD student conferences and the like are perceived as a little dull with only tiny snippets of new stuff presented, with mediocre talks reflecting minimum excitement, and above all low attendance by members of staff often only sneaking in for their own students?

This was not the case at the Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES) Winter Symposium 2013 held 3-4 December organised by Matt Tinsley. Read More

Whan you think of forests in Scotland and Northern England then you are most likely to think of the vast, rolling swathes of coniferous forest that cover the hills and upland areas.  But think forests in general, especially those which are best for biodiversity and it is large, semi ancient broadleaved woodlands which spring to mind.    Read More