Conservation Priorities

Contents

• Module Introduction: aims, goals, methods and a short discussion on student’s views and expectations
• Understanding priorities: what we should care about?
• A brief history of conservation priorities
• Conservation conflicts: why do they emerge?
• Using biogeography to inform conservation priorities: magnitude of biodiversity
• Using biogeography to inform conservation priorities: endemism
• Systematic planning of conservation
• The impact of climate change on setting priorities for conservation
• Political ecology
• Geopolitics of conservation
• Geopolitics of conservation: IUCN, MEA, IPBES
• Practical exercise of conservation conflicts
• Review of contents

Brief

This module aims to provide students with the main conceptual frameworks needed to understand why, where and how conservation conflicts emerge and how to set priorities for conservation in a changing world based on the best available evidence and analytical approaches. A broad range of disciplines will be presented with focus on how they contribute to solve conservation problems.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes describe what you should know and be able to do by the end of the module Knowledge and understanding. • Evaluate the criteria used for identifying conservation priorities and the implementation of these. • Understand the complex nature of conservation priorities, the potentials and limitations of each approach and how to balance conservation conflicts • Have a broad understanding on how each discipline can contribute to set conservation priorities in the real world. Skills, qualities and attributes.
• Collect and integrate information from a variety of sources with a multidisciplinary approach and apply knowledge gained in practice. • Demonstrate effective written communication skills.

• Have a good interpretation of prioritization exercises and maps. • Communicate current knowledge and latest research in a specific area of interest to a standard expected by the ecological profession. • Demonstrate independent or self-directed learning and initiative at a professional or equivalent level. Assessment

A three-hour exam focusing on conceptual frameworks and tools for setting conservation priorities and solving conservation conflicts, worth 100% of the total module mark.

Place and Time

Mondays 3-5pm at teh Bramley Builiding