Longnecker, Marie L.;
(2020)
Sustainable Landscapes: Maintaining biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service delivery - An investigation of the design, implementation and management of NIAs and their potential impact on England's ecological network.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Protected areas, designations and landscapes form an important part of the global initiative to conserve wild nature. Designated landscapes aim to facilitate robust ecological networks, which operate across scales and contribute to maintaining a coherent and functional suite of sites for wild nature, both now and into the future. However, concerns about the effectiveness of landscape-scale initiatives are increasing, particularly in light of the multiple demands made from such spaces with regard to both conservation of wild nature and ecosystem service benefits. Conservation is a political process, and many factors influence the potential success of these spaces in maintaining ecosystems, from the establishment of such areas to the management strategies employed. I consider a recent conservation initiative in England called the Nature Improvement Area (NIA) Initiative. The program envisioned forming “joined-up and resilient ecological networks at a landscape scale” (CEP, 2014a) in addition to delivering “win-win opportunities” (CEP, 2014a) that provided for multiple benefits for two key objectives of wild nature conservation and ecosystem service delivery. This research investigates the social-ecological processes of the design, implementation and management of the NIA Initiative in the first three years from 2012 to 2015 employing both quantitative and qualitative data and analyses. In order to provide scope to the topic, the research is focused in four ways: firstly, the design of the NIA Initiative and whether it fulfils the Lawton Report’s (Lawton et al, 2010) original vision for the program. Secondly, the implementation of the Initiative and its success or otherwise in achieving its stated objectives throughout the three-year process. Thirdly, the thesis considers the outcomes of the Initiative and explores the results in light of those presented in the 2015 Final Monitoring and Evaluation Report (CEP, 2015a). Finally, it makes recommendations for future landscape programs.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Sustainable Landscapes: Maintaining biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service delivery - An investigation of the design, implementation and management of NIAs and their potential impact on England's ecological network |
| Event: | UCL |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10108014 |
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