The overall objective of the project is to identify
sustainable approaches to land use, by identifying how biodiversity may
be conserved in landscapes subjected to human use. Areas where deforestation
is occurring at a high rate are generally characterised by conversion
of forest to agricultural land-uses, such as crop cultivation and grazing,
often in addition to logging and the use of fire. Clearance of forest
for agriculture leads to a decline in forest area and fragmentation of
forest habitat. Remnant patches of forest may be further degraded by extraction
of forest products, and by alteration of environmental conditions in newly
created forest edges. These processes reduce the ability of forest ecosystems
to provide the services on which local communities depend, including soil
and watershed protection, as well as provision of forest products.
Understanding how human impacts influence biodiversity enables the environmental
implications of different land-use decisions to be evaluated, providing
a basis for assessing the local and national policy options relevant to
local communities. The aim of the research will therefore be to investigate
the impact of human activity on the key processes influencing biodiversity
in fragmented forest landscapes, and to use the research results to develop
practical tools for evaluating land-use decisions, thereby indicating
how sustainable development might be achieved in practice.
Search