Sustainability Research (SRI) PhD Projects

Conservation status shifts and impacts on social-ecological resilience and/or human well-being in Africa

Supervisor: Dr. Susannah Sallu

Much has been written about the relationships between people and conservation areas in Africa, particularly the ways in which conservation and development goals can be both complimentary and contradictory. However, relatively little research has investigated the impacts of shifts in conservation status and associated management on the resilience of coupled social-ecological systems and/or human well-being. With renewed concern over biodiversity declines and increasing popularity in the use of market/financial incentives for conservation (driven largely by political and economic processes and decisions in the developed world), shifts in conservation status and management are inevitable. The ways in which these changes are impacting on resilience, sustainability and human well-being (including poverty) need urgent study. Such investigations are vital in informing appropriate policy development and require an investigation of the ways in which power dynamics frame resilient outcomes. 

Key questions might be: to what extent are these shifts in conservation status impacting on people’s ability to deal with economic, environmental and health shocks? What kind of changes are these projects imposing on rural livelihoods? How are market/financial incentives in the conservation sector changing socio-ecological resilience?

This project will involve a significant element of field work and would best suit someone with experience working in Africa on related issues.