My research focuses on the challenges of achieving more participatory and holistic natural resource management, with a particular focus on the Ecosystem Approach and the challenges of governing complex socio-ecological systems.
The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK
We first met Andrew Macdonald, ExhibitScotland, at the Royal Highland Show (RHS) in 2017. Staffing the Virtual Reality corner for RSPB in the Education tent, he first showed us his 360 film shot at Abernethy.
Climate change and the impact it will have presents significant challenges to our future. The effects will be felt across many sectors of society and will influence our personal and professional lives in some profound ways. Some of these impacts have not been identified yet and even when they have they can still be difficult to assess, both in terms of how important they will be and what knock-on effects they will have.
Peatland restoration is one of the major policy interventions in Scotland’s Climate Change Plan, with a target of 20,000 hectares per year. Peatlands in good condition are net carbon sinks, while degraded sites can emit substantial amounts of carbon, contributing to climate change. Since the start of this millennium, over £10 million has been spent on publicly funded restoration projects to reduce Scotland’s net carbon emissions.
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New and emerging diseases of plants and animals are one of the greatest threats to food security and natural resources today. These emergences are accelerating, driven by the effects of climate change, trade and human movement of plant and animal material.
We have created a state-of-the-art, and free to download, desktop app to provide climate change risk assessments for crops pests and diseases in the UK that anyone can use.
By Megan Welford, RISS
The Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS) launched in February 2018, with the aim of enabling farmers, foresters and crofters in Scotland to explore their innovative ideas through collaboration. RISS is funded by the European and Scottish Rural Development Programmes.
A large proportion of the Scottish strategic road network in the Highlands is vulnerable to landslides. Landslides in Scotland have significant economic impact and they may increase in frequency with the intense rainfall events associated with a changing climate. The potential of vegetation to decrease vulnerability to landslides has been demonstrated in the laboratory, and increased vulnerability to landslides has often been noted after vegetation clearance in the field.
As the SEFARI Knowledge Exchange Sectorial Lead for Soils and Crops, Ken's particularly interested in how plant roots play a critical role in mechanically stabilising soil, so he never thought he’d be enlisting the help of a Pufferfish to communicate research!
Scotland’s thriving food and drink industry is a major contributor to the economy, worth £14 billion each year. Ambition 2030, the new industry-led strategy, aims to increase the value of the sector in Scotland to £30 billion by 2030. This is to be achieved in the context of some significant challenges.
The global population continues to rise, there are fewer resources available, and we have a changing climate. We live in a period of geopolitical change, and we must ensure that economic growth is not at the expense of public health or our natural capital.