News & Stories – Page 8 – Oxford Nature Network

Selected News and Stories

Trinity Term Nature Series Friday Talks

How to save the Amazon

In honour of journalist Dom Philips and indigenista Bruno Pereira, a gathering of Indigenous leaders, human rights and environmental defenders, researchers, and practitioners came together on Earth Day to celebrate their lives and build hope for ‘How to Save the Amazon.’ The newly launched paperback version of the book ‘How to Save the Amazon’ uncovers […]

Exploring the deep sea

Did you know that only 0.001% of the deep ocean has been visually observed, even though it constitutes two-thirds of the planet? DPhil student Sheena Talma features on the Planet Visionaries podcast to talk about the ocean, and her fascinating research.

Trinity Term Nature Network Coffee Morning Talks

April 30th Dr Ada Grabowska-Zhang and Dr Joanna Bagniewska – Connecting nature and connecting with nature – tools, motivations and capacity Society is experiencing an increased disconnection from nature, which not only impacts the environment, its restoration and conservation, but also human well-being. Here we present several projects through which we give people the […]

A complete cross-department network

The Oxford Nature Network is a network of researchers and practitioners in and around the University working on biodiversity.

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All Stories

Yadvinder in the rainforest with a note book and pen — Yadvinder in the rainforest

Where the wild things should be: Yadvinder Malhi and why...

Rainforests are amazing places – great biodiverse ecosystems and carbon sinks. But, as a million nature programmes have shown, they are also full of things that could kill you: insects as big as your fist, some of the deadliest snakes alive, even the frogs can be nasty. Not unreasonably, this might well deter many people […]

wildflower meadow with fields and trees in distance — Wildflower meadow in Oxfordshire. Photo Yadvinder Malhi

The great significance of observing nature in your back garden

Yadvinder Malhi shares his rediscovery of nature at the local level Like many, I have found solace and refuge in local nature over this year of pandemic and lockdown. When able to escape from Zoom calls and cabin fever, I’ve wandered and exercised in my local floodplain meadow of the Thames. I’ve used books and […]

head and shoulders of a Sumatran Rhino in jungle — Sumatran Rhino photo by Barney Long

IUCN’s New “Green Status of Species” Measures Impact of Conservation...

From California condors to East Asian mangroves, IUCN’s New “Green Status of Species” Measures Impact of Conservation Action New research led by the Department of Zoology’s Dr Molly Grace, published today in Conservation Biology, applies the IUCN Green Status of Species for the first time. This is a new Global Standard to measure how close a species is to being fully […]

Landscape of trees at dusk — A ‘Treescape Opportunity Map’ has been created for the county of Oxfordshire showing where tree cover might be increased.

Environmental Change Institute (ECI) Administrator to support the Oxfordshire Treescapes...

Contractual details: 40{4136d53bac2007e4117f1d8828c187063ea0a85f13bd7ca9434591c56c4e6ea2} FTE Term: 12 weeks in first instance, possibility of extension Salary: £12 – £15 an hour Location: Oxfordshire (other locations can be considered) Background Healthy Ecosystem Restoration Oxfordshire (HERO) is a network initiative supported by the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, and coordinated by the Environmental Change Institute. The initiative explores […]

city skyline reflected in water — Photo: Hollie Booth

On COVID-19, and rebalancing our relationship with nature: what have...

Story by Hollie Booth The Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICCS), based at Oxford’s Department of Zoology, have spent the past 15 months looking at how post-pandemic recovery plans can help (or hinder) conservation efforts. This includes the launch of Pledge for our Earth, where individuals commit to doing their part in resetting our relationship with […]

Photograph of Melissa carrying out fieldwork in Bolivia with jaguar plet behind her — llegal trade and human‐wildlife conflict are two key drivers of biodiversity loss and are recognized as leading threats to large carnivores. Photo by Melissa Arias.

What are the drivers of the illegal wildlife trade in...

I was a stranger who looked and sounded foreign, yet before even asking who I was or what I wanted, she welcomed me into her home with a smile and hurriedly dragged a chair so that I could sit. When I told her that I was researching jaguars and their interactions with people in the […]

Blacktip reef shark swimming in the shallows — Swimming with sharks. Photos by Hollie Booth (Insta: @the_hollitype)

Lessons from Misool: a nature-positive approach to the tourism sector...

Most business models of the 21st century have a net negative impact on nature. They fundamentally rely on using natural resources – oil for fuel, land for infrastructure, cotton for textiles – with few incentives to replace or regenerate what is lost. As of 2020, human-made materials outweigh all living things on earth, and the destruction […]

Skyline view of Ho Chi Minh City — Credit: Alegria Olmedo

Characterising wild meat consumers in Vietnam

In early 2019, I travelled to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to conduct research on the consumption of meat from wild animals in local restaurants. I had shortlisted a few restaurants where this consumption took place and had the opportunity to visit some of them. The restaurant we walked into was rather empty for a […]

A beaver about to enter a river — Beavers help build our biodiversity

Beaver ecosystems

Annie Welden takes us to the wonderful world of beavers, the remarkable ecosystems engineers that work with humans to increase ecosystem biodiversity. Ever heard the phrase, ‘busy as a beaver?’ These large rodents found in North America and Eurasia are busy literally building biodiversity. By constructing their dams out of the materials around them, from […]

Close up of ocean waves — The Oxygen we breathe comes from our Oceans

Rainforests are not the lungs of our planet

The statement that Amazon is the lungs of our planet is a misconception. Our tropical forests are undoubtedly one of the most precious resources of our planet, for a multitude of reasons including being a hotspot for biodiversity and life on earth, storing carbon, climate regulation, water regulation, social and economic resilience, and much more. […]

Close of burning leaf — As we are approaching wildfire season in the Amazon, it is worth remembering that records of active fires in the Amazon Rainforest peaked in August 2019.

Amazon fires

As we approach the Amazonian wildfire season, Drs. Erika Berengue and Aoife Bennett from the Ecosystems Lab provide their insights on the drivers of wildfires and what this means in desperate times of COVID-19 pandemic.  Amazonians face devastating times: the rapid spread of COVID-19 across Amazonia, the lack of monitoring, infrastructure, and access to medical […]

The Sabah Biodiversity Experiment

One of the largest ecosystem restoration experiment in the world, the experiment has been going on for almost half a century. It has planted 100,000 trees over more than 5 square kilometres of a remote area of logged forest to investigate how it can be best restored. The project, located in Northern Borneo, Malaysia, studies […]