News & Stories – Page 8 – Oxford Nature Network

Selected News and Stories

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 […]

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 […]

For plants facing climate change, staying alive beats reproducing

Oxford researchers have found that plant resilience depends more on year-to-year survival than on growth or reproduction, with fluctuations in water availability emerging as the strongest environmental driver. A University of Oxford study has answered a deceptively simple question: what makes some plant populations more resilient than others to year-to-year environmental change? The answer surprised […]

Inspired by Nature. Powered by People

Celebrating a Remarkable Nature Festival 2026. On Saturday 27 June, as Oxfordshire experienced one of the hottest days of the year, hundreds of people came together for something worth celebrating: a festival that connected people with nature, with each other and with the inspiring work taking place to protect our environment. Despite the heatwave, The […]

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ladybrid on thistles — Ladybird on thistles

Urban grassland & verge guidelines

Why do we need to change the way we manage urban grass? Although uniformly short grass used to be seen as a sign of good management, people now are becoming more aware of the value of nature and the need for more nature-friendly management techniques. Frequent mowing removes flowers that provide nectar for bees and […]

an image will be here soon. — An image will be here soon

Green Action Week: Professor EJ Milner-Gulland discusses how the whole...

As Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity, I work broadly on ways to make humanity’s relationship to nature more sustainable. That’s why I was so proud to be a part of the process that led to the University committing to biodiversity net gain by 2035, one of the two high-level goals of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy (alongside net […]

Organisations making their catering more sustainable can make genuine positive...

Organisations making their catering more sustainable can make genuine positive contributions, though it will take extremely ambitious action to come close to fully mitigating biodiversity loss. A study published in Nature Food showed how Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), a college at the University of Oxford, can develop a bold roadmap for delivering reduced biodiversity impacts from their […]

young man and woman stand in front of a colourful sut-out reading COPY15 — Seth Thomas and Audrey Wagner at COP15. Photo credit NbSI

The hopes of the Nature based Solutions Initiative team and...

This week, the much anticipated 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) kicks off in Montreal and will run to 19 December. This is an opportunity for the global community to come together to discuss urgent issues related to the protection of nature and its biodiversity. The primary purpose of the conference […]

ESSH text on the left and view of tree canopy on the right — Download the report here

BUILDING BRIDGES: ENGAGING THE ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Social and environmental challenges are deeply interwoven. Responding to overlapping concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality is not merely a scientific or technical enterprise, but also a deeply political, economic, moral and social endeavour Generating fair and effective responses requires a bridging and blending of different academic disciplines. This booklet outlines some recent […]

flower graphic — Join the Alliance of Nature-Positive Universities

Universities restoring nature – Join the Alliance of Nature-Positive Universities

UNEP and the University of Oxford are launching a global network of Nature Positive Universities in order to prompt the prioritization of nature and its restoration within the higher education sector; in their operations and supply chains, on campuses and within the cities where they operate. This network will form a major contribution to the […]

pple marching with banner of the world as a melting icecream cone — Photo by Harrison Moore on Unsplash

The natural world is critical to climate – Professor Yadvinder...

The living world is not a sideshow in the climate debate. Our climate benefits from a healthy and flourishing biosphere, just as ecosystems and the diversity of living organisms depend on climate. We have all seen images of distressed animals and devastated regions affected by flooding, fire and rising temperatures. They show real decline in […]

film trailer pics of nature flowers and buildings — Each film is an ideal showcase for quality Nature-based Solutions, and inspiration for a nature-positive future.

Nature-based Solutions in Action in the UK – Nature Day...

Research shows that further climate warming and biodiversity loss are now unavoidable but that we still have time to make a lasting difference: i.e. to keep warming below dangerous levels, stop further depletion of the diversity of life on Earth and make the world a better and just place for all. In 2021 the international […]

birds on a feeder — Birds on a lamp post. credit Shutterstock news banner

Academic policy engagement for biodiversity needs to take transdisciplinarity seriously

Biodiversity is the basis of life on Earth and the root of human existence. The complex synergy between plants, animals, earth and air underpins everything people do, and in turn, everything people do can impact biodiversity. As university-based researchers, we are interested in understanding the complexity of biodiversity, but also pooling evidence, expertise and experience […]

Acrylic on canvas, projected stop motion animation, Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ computer, time-of-flight sensor, laser emitter and receiver.

Working at the crossroads of art and science

Art can be an effective way of communicating scientific research. It can connect people from different backgrounds, stimulate discussion, and produce knowledge and understanding. Moving beyond the written word can make research more accessible and help scientists to think about the key messages and meaning of their work. Incorporating visual methods into research design can […]

crowd watching female researcher on a spaoboc speaking — Apply to be one of our 2022 speakers

Women in STEM Soapbox Science event

We are pleased to announce that the Biodiversity Network will be supporting the 2022 MPLS Women in STEM Networking event. After a successful online event last year, we are looking forward to enabling the community to meet face-to-face. The event provides a chance to meet Oxford’s Women in Science, Engineering and Maths societies, speak with […]

Quantifying and reducing the biodiversity impact of our food: UNIQ+...

by Agnieszka Sokolowska As a first-generation immigrant from a working-class family, graduate study always seemed distant and unreachable. In fact, I never even considered it as an option for my own future. Applying for the UNIQ+ programme, I already knew that I wanted my career to be related to my passion for environmentalism and sustainability. […]