A new project by Lancaster University and young Nepalese conservationists, aims to reveal the extent of the country’s illegal orchid trade and explore options for creating a sustainable alternative.

Orchids are one of the most diverse plant families in the world, and there is a thriving illegal trade in wild orchids globally, which are harvested for medicines, foods, cosmetics and as ornamental pla...

Miaomiao Tian recently participated in the British Postgraduate Network for Chinese Studies’ 2020 Annual Conference (online). The theme of this year’s conference was “China and the Shared Future: Transformation, Collaboration, and Challenges.”  Her presentation explored  challenges and changes associated with wildlife trade and public health.  

Her talk, entitled “How are public health ob...

Kumar Paudel recently joined the 2nd The Conservation Chat, a new platform that aims to inspire and motivate biodiversity and conservation students to explore different opportunities and innovative skills to promote conservation. It bridges the gap between the academe and on-the-ground conservation work by introducing unconventional and innovative conservation strategies. 

You can access a rec...

In collaboration with Lancaster University,  Auriga Nusantara hosted its second webinar legal discussion entitled “Wildlife in Indonesia: Loss, damage, and sanctions” with Prof. Prof. Rosa Agustina of the Law Faculty of University of Indonesia, and Dr. Jacob Phelps of Lancaster UniversityRo.  The session focused on the need for civil law approaches that can provide environmental remedies in cases...

Our recent publication in Conservation Science and Practice, led by Kumar Paudel, was just recognised by the Society for Conservation Biology as one of the journal's top downloaded papers in recent publication history.  This places it in their top 10% of downloaded papers. 

Conservation enforcement: Insights from people incarcerated for wildlife crimes in Nepal is based on inter...

Miaomiao Tian, a PhD student working across the Lancaster University Law Department and Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC), has been awarded a full-tuition scholarship from LEC.  Her research is tracking the evolution of wildlife governance in China, including new restrictions on wildlife trade in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and growing concerns about zoonotic disease....

We hosted a workshop on developing civil lawsuits for illegal wildlife trade (IWT) cases in Indonesia, part of the Defra-funded WILDS Project (1-10th March, 2020). Three Indonesian lawyers, Rika Fajiri, Grahat Nagara and Roni Saputra, joined came to Lancaster to explore how we might be able to build lawsuits that would allow us to seek remedies for the harm caused by IWT.

We had previously develope...

In 2016/17, Kumar Puadel conducted dozens of interviews with people arrested for wildlife crimes in Nepal. Based on those findings, he has now launched an innovative public awareness campaign.

Based on our findings, he proposed that improved awareness about the scale and impacts of enforcement could help to increase the deterrence effects of Nepal’s very strict conservation laws--while also reducin...

Kumar Paudel, Gary Potter and I recently published an article in Conservation Science and Practice.   It drew on >100 interviews with people imprisoned for illegal wildlife trade in Nepal, and yielded interesting insights for how we conduct conservation enforcement. For example, 

• 20% of the total prison population in the district around Chitwan National Park were wildlife prisone...

We are pleased to launch the new website for the Nepal Conservation Research Fellowship. 

Nepal hosts exceptional biodiversity. From the tops of the Himalayas to its subtropical lowlands, there is a growing demand for applied researchers who are empowered to help tackle Nepal’s mounting environmental challenges. Yet many emerging conservationists struggle to envision viable careers in this field, i...

Our lab, in cooperation with Kumar Paudel from Greenhood Nepal and the Nepal Conservation Research Fellowship, has been awarded a grant from the British Council's South Asia Science Programme. 

Our project is entitled "Governing Nepal’s water resources through Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)".  It will build a research how EIA's are being implemented in Nepal, providing a baseline that will...

Prof Bambang Hero Saharjo from Bogor Agricultural University was awarded the 2019 John Maddox Prize, which  recognises the work of individuals who promote science and evidence, advancing the public discussion around difficult topics despite challenges or hostility.

Prof. Hero is a lead expert witness on illegal peatland fires in Indonesia. He has presented evidence on nearly 500 environmental...

The role of scientific evidence in law enforcement

for land & forest fire cases in Indonesia

Prof. Bambang Hero Saharjo, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia

Thursday, 14 Nov. - 1pm - Charles Carter Building A19

Indonesia's chronic forest and peatland fires, typically caused by illegal agriculture, are an ecological and humanitarian disaster. Prof. Hero is Indonesia's leading expert on uncontroll...

Tomatoes for Tomorrow

Drs Gabriela Toledo-Ortiz & Jacob Phelps

Wednesday, 06 Nov., 2019 - 1pm - Biology Lecture Theatre, Lancaster University 

One of the world's most important horticultural crops, tomatoes star in cuisines globally and are essential to households, economies and nutrition. Mexico is the global center of tomato agrodiversity and hosts hundreds of varieties. These face new threats from...

Jacob presented "Sustainability through environmental liability" at the 2nd Sustainability & Development Conference at the University of Michigan--an event that seeks to catalyze work and partnerships around sustainable development, such that it is not about a single discipline or theoretical orientation but is instead a platform which enables conversation across the ways in which that sustainabil...