General

The SPECTRA programme seeks to enhance the sustainable development of one of the poorest regions of China, Guizhou, through cutting edge critical zone science undertaken by integrated, complementary and multidisciplinary teams of Chinese and UK scientists. The key question for management of the karst landscapes of SW China is "how can the highly heterogeneous critical zone resources be restored, to enable sustainable delivery of ecosystem services?" We know little about the geological, hydrological and ecological processes which control soil fertility and soil function in these landscapes and how best to manage them to maximise ecosystem service delivery. SPECTRA has been designed to address these questions through a suite of 4 interlinked workpackages. The CZ will span a gradient from undisturbed natural vegetation through to human perturbed and highly degraded landscapes. Using cutting-edge approaches we will integrate measurements of: (1) the three-dimensional distribution of plants (including roots), soil, fungi, and microbes; (2) rates of rock weathering, elemental release and soil formation processes; (3) rates of erosion and soil redistribution; and, (4) pools and fluxes of soil organic C (SOC), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). This will allow us to identify the biological controls on nutrient availability, soil formation and loss in the CZ and their response to perturbation, providing the rich evidence base needed to inform land management decision-making in the Guizhou province. In doing so, SPECTRA will directly address the Newton Fund objective of enhancing economic development and social welfare by providing rigorous applied scientific knowledge that will underpin the development of strategies to improve net ecological service delivery from the karst landscape, informing realistic economic and ecological compensation plans to alleviate poverty, particularly for the households that rely on fragile soils for a living. The project is also designed to maximise the benefits to the science communities of both countries, thereby bringing significant institutional benefits to all partners. Training of Chinese Early Career Researchers in state-of-the-art approaches and techniques in leading UK laboratories is an absolute priority of the scientific partnership, and combined with the networking opportunities between project partners in the global CZ community, will contribute significantly to meeting the Newton Fund objective of building the capacity for CZ Science in China. The ultimate beneficiaries of this project will be the people of Guizhou karst region (population 35 million), which is one of the poorest regions in China with a GDP less than 50% of the national average. In response to the environmental deterioration and changing social conditions in the Guizhou karst region, the Chinese government has intervened to promote the abandonment of the most degraded cultivated land and its succession to grassland, shrub and forest. This strategy has met with mixed success and is not yet underpinned by well-developed plans to repay landowners for rational and sustainable use of land resources. This must be informed by science that quantifies current and potential ecosystem service delivery. There is significant potential for our research on the response, resilience and recovery of the karst critical zone to perturbation to inform improved land management strategies that will meet these demands, leading in turn to improved delivery of ecosystem services to the communities in this region and higher environmental quality, addressing poverty and the welfare of the population through development of long-term sustainable economic development.

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.

General

(Bangladesh): This activity builds regional resilience through an integrated, inclusive ecosystem co-management approach that conserves the natural habitats of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) watershed. It will provide technical assistance to the Forest Department, Ministry of CHT Affairs, Hill District Councils, Village Common Forest Management Committees, and forest-dependent communities to protect and manage forests and watersheds of the CHT. The activity will implement the approved Integrated Watershed Management Action Plan and conduct natural regeneration surveys to inform forest baseline status, and utilize GIS mapping to identify suitable micro-watersheds for assisted natural regeneration activities. It will continue to raise awareness against forest and wildlife crimes and provide training on climate change adaptation, sustainable forest management, social cohesion, and market-linked resilient livelihoods. Social cohesion activities will help mediate land tenure and communal conflict among host communities affected by Rohingya migration.Protection of forests contributes to the prevention of landslides and long-term ecosystem services for food, water, and livelihoods and thus supports the U.S. government's objective of strengthening resilience to natural hazards. Funding within this IM contributes to meeting the required Host Community ($257,598), Combating Wildlife Trafficking, Microenterprise and Livelihoods, and Gender Based Violence directives. $200,000 biodiversity funds will be attributed to Adaptation Indirect.

General

Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world with a large rural population of small-holder, low income farmers. As the demand for meat and dairy increases, livestock farming continues to expand onto land that is not appropriate for farming, causing environmental damage through forest clearance, loss of biodiversity and land degradation. Different national initiatives aim to encourage more intensive and sustainable farming that support farmers' livelihoods and protect the environment and its rich biodiversity. Silvo-pastoral farming is one of those initiatives as it combines forestry and grazing. However due to cultural and social factors, in combination with possible economic and agronomic influences, uptake remains low and deforestation continues. This interdisciplinary project brings together cultural geography, behavioural economics and ecological expertise from both the UK and Colombia to investigate the cultural and socio-economic reasons for low adoption of silvo-pastoral livestock farming practices that can support livelihood and protect biodiversity. Through farmer interviews and focus groups and existing socio-economic data sets we will develop and test effective mechanisms through dissemination, farmer to farmer engagement and government policy that promote effective uptake and implementation of best practice. Furthermore we will undertake a large scale field trial and quantify the scale dependent benefits of silvo-pastoral practices and forest protection on biodiversity and ecosystem services to provide landscape scale policy relevant guidance on the optimal approaches to promote forest protection and silvo-pastoral implementation at the landscape scale, beyond just the individual farm. These approaches will help sustainably intensify livestock production whilst protecting forests and other natural areas in order to support economic development, biodiversity protection and social wellbeing in Colombia.

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.