Wildlife and countryside research projects
Ongoing research projects
Provision of Scientific Advice on CITES Fauna Applications
Council Regulation EC No 338/97 which implements CITES in the EC requires member states to designate appropriately qualified scientific authorities to JNCC has been identified as the most suitable body to undertake this role as they are the only organisation possessing the necessary knowledge, expertise and capability who are also able to co-ordinate views, where necessary from the relevant countryside agencies.
Contractor: Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Contract Manager: Ms Chris Bear
Completion date: 31 March 2008
Provision of Scientific Services for Flora
To ensure that Defra (as UK CITES Management Authority) has adequate scientific advice in relation to floras to enable it to fulfill its commitment under the terms of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna and the relevant implementing European Union Regulations.
Contractor: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Contract Manager: Ms Chris Bear
Completion date: 31 March 2009
NBN: Policy Support
To support the development of the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) into an operational tool so that it can contribute to Defra's sustainable development strategic priority of 'natural resource protection' through the delivery of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP), the England Biodiversity Strategy (EBS), the England Rural Development Programme, principally agri-environment schemes, and to commitments under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and other international agreements.
Contractor: NBN Trust
Contract Manager: Mark Stevenson
Completion date: 28 September 2007
Developing Methods to Assess Butterfly Abundance in the Wider Countryside
This project will aim to develop and test a reliable methodology for assessing the abundance of butterflies in the wider countryside to increase the breadth of annual butterfly monitoring and to sample properly representative locations in the countryside. The methodology developed will aim to complement the existing Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, which principally assesses abundance at nature reserves, or sites that hold important populations of scarce and threatened butterfly species.
Contractor: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Contract Manager: Mark Stevenson
Completion date: 28 February 2008
Cetacean Offshore Distribution and Abundance in the European Atlantic
This project will provide up-to-date estimates of cetacean abundance in European Atlantic offshore waters. Methods for monitoring small cetaceans in these waters will be developed and tested and a management framework developed within which information on abundance and monitoring can be used to assess bycatch and provide estimates of safe levels to managers, enabling targeting of mitigation methods on fisheries with bycatch in excess of the 1.7% agreed by ASCOBANS.
Contractor: Sea Mammal Research Unit - University of St Andrews
Contract Manager: Dr Jo Myers
Completion date: 30 September 2008
Countryside Survey 2007 (Preparatory phase II)
Preparation Phase II is intended to complete the preparations for Countryside Survey 2007, and address all outstanding issues raised in the Technical Review, and the development work initiated in Preparation Phase I.
Contractor: Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Contract Manager: Dr Helen Pontier MCIWEM
Completion date: 29 June 2007
Countryside Survey 2007
The Countryside Survey is a national (UK) survey of the status and long term trends in broad habitats, landscape features, soil, vegetation and freshwaters. The main benefits will be a sound, up-to-date and widely accessible evidence base to inform policy development and improved scientific assessment of long term changes in the natural resources of the UK.
Contractor: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Contract Manager: Dr Helen Pontier MCIWEM
Completion date: 1 March 2010
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
The project aims to develop the necessary IT standards and systems to enable many millions of biological specimens and records to be shared between scientific institutes and to provide the necessary infrastructure for an assessment of global biodiversity.
Contract Manager: Dr Andrew Stott
Contractor: Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)
Completion date: 31 March 2008
Peat Monitoring
To obtain accurate information about the use of peat in horticulture and gardening annually between 2005 and 2010 so as to monitor trends in the quantities of peat and peat alternatives being used in the UK.
Contractor: ADAS UK Ltd
Contract Manager: Judith Stuart
Completion date: 31 October 2008
Cost Impact of marine biodiversity policies on business – the Marine Bill
To assess the likely impacts on business (including small business ) and the third sector of new biodiversity policies outlined in the Marine Bill White Paper. To quantify the additional cost to business with the introduction of the proposals, providing detailed monetary values where possible. This information will need to be collected, analysed and presented in a format to allow direct translation for the preparation of the full Impact Assessment (IA) .
Contractor: ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd
Contract Manager: Dr. Jo Myers
Completion date: 30th November 2007
Page last modified: 04 September 2007
Page published: 14 April 2004