Profile

Biography

Julia is particularly interested in adopting an inter-disciplinary approach to conservation issues, and also in the application of scientific research into environmental policy.  Before starting her PhD in 2009, Julia worked at the Institute of Zoology in London on the Living Planet Index, a collaborative project between WWF and ZSL.  The Living Planet Index measures global trends in vertebrate diversity based on over 8,000 population time series and it is used by the Convention on Biological Diversity as a means of measuring progress towards the 2010 target.  Julia’s main role was to model trends in migratory species for the Convention for the conservation of Migratory Species.  Prior to this she conducted her MSc at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, for which her thesis investigated the ecology of the invasive ship rat (Rattus rattus) and the potential for competition with the native and endangered North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli).  Julia has also previously spent some time in Kenya assisting a University of Cambridge human-elephant conflict research project. 

Read Julia's blog

Career

Research

Overview

Description of PhD

Title:  Perceptions of governance: examining forest conservation policy at the community level in Tanzania and the implications for REDD+.

Supervisors:  Dr. Andrew Marshall, Dr. Samarthia Thankappan, Steve Cinderby (Stockholm Environment Institute)

Collaborators:  Dr. Susannah Sallu (University of Leeds)

Funding:  Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

TAC: Dr. Andrew Marshall, Dr. Samarthia Thankappan, Steve Cinderby, Dr. Murray Rudd

Description of research: 

Julia’s doctoral research aims to analyse forest governance from the community perspective in Tanzania, with a particular focus on the implications for the new UN initiative to mitigate climate change called REDD+ (payments for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

Most of the world’s tropical forests continue to be degraded by the unmonitored extraction of natural resources.  These resources provide direct livelihood benefits to millions of people yet are rarely quantified.  With the implementation of REDD+ policy and resulting conservation initiatives, the implications for rural communities may be considerable.  As a new international initiative there is currently no strategy to guide implementation of a REDD+ framework into the management of natural resources in the developing world.

Tanzania has a long history of state-run forest management dating back to the German colonial period, but the mid-1980s saw the beginning of decentralised management in Tanzania with rights and responsibilities delegated to local people.  The impact of these varied levels of protection for both biodiversity and local livelihoods remains open for debate, as does the degree to which the official perception of management is enacted at the local level.  These issues will have important implications for the success of any REDD+ initiative.  Governance quality can influence the extent of deforestation, and the implementation of REDD+ can be improved by learning from experiences with existing forms of forest management.  This research draws upon case studies of communities in Tanzania that are adjacent to forests under varying forms of protection.  The aim is to analyse the impact of forest management on local livelihoods by measuring the effect on local dependence on and use of forest resources.  Examination of the local perceptions of and flow of information regarding forest management in comparison with official discourse will be used as a measure of governance quality.  In this way the research aims to improve the implementation of global REDD+ policy at the local scale and contribute to the debate surrounding the potential for co-benefits of carbon-based forest conservation schemes, and sustainable tropical forest management.

Links

The Living Planet Index

Laikipia Elephant Research Project, Kenya

Publications

Full publications list

McRae L, Zöckler C, Gill M, Loh J, Latham J, Harrison N, Martin J, Collen B (2010) Tracking trends in Arctic wildlife: the Arctic Species Trend Index. Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program/Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna

Latham, J., McRae, L., Loh, J., Collen, B. (2008) The Living Planet Index for Migratory Species: an index of change in population abundance. Final report for The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.

McRae, L., Loh, J., Collen, B., Holbrook, S., Amin, R., Latham, J., Tranquilli, S., Baillie, J. (2007) Living Planet Index. Canadian Living Planet Report (ed. Mitchell, S. & Peller, A.) WWF – Canada, Toronto, Canada.